Mixed
by BioFlare
Summary: Alex is nervous about meeting with Maggie for a game of pool and discusses things with Kara. Afterwards, she proceeds to the alien bar to meet Maggie and try to avoid awkward conversation. Instead, Alex tries to drown her feelings in alcohol, but gets caught up in an incident that puts both her and Maggie in danger. Set after 2x07.
1. Chapter 1: Thoughts and Talks

**Author's notes:**

It's been a long time since I wrote anything proper... I binged Supergirl and fell in love with everything about it, but Sanvers became my favourite thing of all. I decided to write this after my bingeing was put on hold when I ran out of episodes...because episode 8 wasn't out at the time I wrote this. It's set after 2x07 and before 2x08. Thank you to all who read this, and if you spot errors of any kind, please do let me know! P.S. This is also on Archive of Our Own.

 **Mixed**

Alex drained the air from her lungs in an exaggerated sigh. She _always_ had to play the protector.

It wasn't that she was regretful for every time she leaped at the chance to save her sister's hide; she just found it a tad frustrating that her little sister was effectively impervious to injuries while she at times suffered from some of humanity's worst enemies: food poisoning, hangovers, and carpet burn. This time it was slightly more dignified, but that didn't make her feel any better.

Annoyingly, she had been bereft of her combat armour when she and Kara had gone out for lunch earlier in the day. It had been relatively quiet at the D.E.O. so the sisters had made lunch plans. Unfortunately, their date had been cut short when they had been forced to stop a midday drunken brawl in a pub they had been passing. The situation made a turn for the worse when one of the drunkards unsheathed his handgun and failed to aim with any measure of accuracy. She was lucky that he had been so tragically misaligned, or the bullet could have caused some serious damage. Additionally, it had been whilst tackling her literally bulletproof sister out of harm's way. Alex's instincts worked faster than her brain sometimes, but at least nobody saw lead projectiles ricochet off her seemingly human sibling. A graze to the arm was a modest price to pay.

The longer she sat and waited, the more irritated she became. A glance or two to her left arm's triceps was all it took before her eyes rolled and she gave in, rapidly unravelling the soiled bandage. She hissed as her wound pulsed at the pulling bandage but removed the wrapping all the way off regardless. The bullet had burrowed into her muscle as it had scraped by, claiming a good chunk of her skin. Alex wasn't particularly fond of scars, but she knew this one was definitely going to leave a mark.

She couldn't help but think that this scar would be visible every time she wore short sleeves. New friends and old would see it for the rest of her life. After a moment of hesitation, she wondered if girls liked scars. She was a girl, but she couldn't speak for them all. Did...did Maggie like scars? She must have plenty.

' _Shoot, Danvers,'_ her mind began with a metaphorical scowl, _'you should not be thinking about her.'_

No matter how far she tried to push her detective "friend" from her mind, she would always return. Alex knew how hopeless it was to suppress her feelings, even after being plucked from her boat and thrust into the friend zone, but that did not stop her from trying. And, boy, did she try.

The arm graze drew her attention again and she inhaled a shaky breath, got to her feet, and found more ointment to apply. It bit into her flesh, lingering for at least half a minute. There was something comforting about the sting; it was like confirmation that her wound was being mended. Fixed by hundreds of tiny women stitching her skin back together.

Women. Of course she thought of women.

Scoffing once more and tightening her arm muscles as if a form of punishment, Alex rewrapped her wound with the same dirty cloth and slumped back onto Kara's couch. She inclined her head toward the TV, trying to drown her thoughts in whatever muted program was playing.

"How is it?"

Alex nearly leaped off the couch as Kara entered the room in a towel. She almost blurted something born from annoyance, but reconsidered. It wasn't that Kara had sprung from nowhere—Alex was just feeling jumpy. "Y-yeah, it's still a little sore. I just redressed it."

Kara's smile was greeted by a simultaneous frown, and she lowered the brush she had been guiding through her soaked locks. "It doesn't look redressed. It's got blood all over it."

"I knocked it again; it'll be fine," Alex assured. "Now will you put some clothes on and get your ass over here so we can finally eat?"

Kara employed an especially toothy grin at the sight of potstickers on her coffee table. Ever since it had become somewhat of a public fact that they were one of her favourite foods, her friends and family alike had begun to bombard her with them. She had never complained, but Alex was getting a little sick of them.

" _One_ sec," she promised, zipping into her room and emerging in pyjamas literally one second later. Alex nearly chuckled. That gag never got old.

As Kara waltzed over to the couch and dropped to her knees before the table, her sister couldn't help but smile. Kara always seemed to have it together while Alex strived for her perfect life. Amongst everything that Kara had going on, she couldn't help but wonder how she handled it all. She had her problems just like every other living being on the planet (and off it), but they always seemed to shrivel down to nothing more than a mere consideration by the end of the day. Alex was usually able to work out her problems, but this _newfound discovery_ was becoming an unsolvable problem in some areas. In others, it was like a blindfold had finally come off, but the good was sometimes unable to balance out the bad. It wasn't that she resented it—she just had no clue how to deal with it. Just when her life seemed to be coming together, some buried part of her came wriggling to the surface, exposing her to the world.

Kara had only begun to chow down when she noticed her sister's glum expression. Once her eyes caught Alex's, the D.E.O. agent found traces of a smile and tried to paint her face with fabricated happiness. Kara didn't need X-ray vision to see straight through it.

"Are you okay?" she asked, mouth half full.

Alex's eyebrows rose as she inhaled, her gaze offset. "Yeah. I'm fine." She held her breath before turning to Kara, then her body went limp as it dawned on her that she couldn't hide her emotions from her sister. "It's just... I'm seeing Maggie tonight. Or I'm meant to, any—"

"What?!" Kara blurted, spitting out her mouthful of dumpling. Her eyebrows pressed firmly into her eyes as she wiped her mouth. "Alex, why didn't you tell me?"

"I..." her sister began, her shoulders levelling with her jaws unconsciously as her head trembled. She released them after realising it was a defensive reflex and rolled them back. She thought Kara had heard their conversation the previous night, but maybe she hadn't. "You're probably so sick of hearing about it. I should just..."

"No, no," Kara insisted, dropping her chopsticks and clambering up onto the sofa. She faced her sister with as much dignity as one could with a flake of pastry on their lip. "You're always there for me and, let's face it: I've had the spotlight for way too long. You can tell me. You can always tell me. Anything."

Alex tried to muster a smile but could barely manage it. "Last night, when the boys were here and Maggie dropped by... Well, I said we were going to be friends, right?"

Kara nodded, licking the shard of pastry off her lip with a tad of embarrassment. She became still when Alex drilled an expression of blatant uncertainty and confusion into her. She sighed knowingly. "But you don't want to be friends."

"It's not that I don't want to be friends," Alex tried to explain, her eyes wandering elsewhere as if trying to gather some answers. "I just know that things are going to be complicated. You know, I can't get rid of...of these feelings...for her." She met her pleading eyes with her sister. "I don't know what to do."

Kara reflected a cheerless but thoughtful smile. "I sort of...know how that feels. But from the opposite side. You know...with Winn."

Alex breathed a breath of amusement. "Yeah. I know alright."

"I tried, Alex. I tried to have feelings for him back, but when he kissed me, it just felt...off." She saw the dagger plunge into her sister's heart and she struggled to salvage some hope. "I'm not saying it's the same with you and Maggie..."

' _No, it wasn't,'_ Alex's mind chimed, thoughts floating about. _'She...didn't hate it.'_

"You just might need to give her some time."

Alex sighed. "Now I feel sorry for Winn."

"Yeah. But time healed things between us. Now we're best friends again."

Sudden sadness flooded Alex's mind and her expression fell. She knew Kara was still looking at her, but she was disinclined to look back. She wanted to tell her that this was different; that she had exposed a part of herself that she had never even given herself a chance to acknowledge before, and when she finally did, it had only made her want to go back into hiding. She had never felt so vulnerable in her life. She was well within her comfort zone wrestling with an alien slug-human hybrid or going head-to-head with her super-powered sister, but admitting feelings to someone she had barely met – and a woman at that, which was entirely new to her – doused her in a shower of fear. On top of that, she and Maggie hadn't started out as friends, like Kara and Winn had.

Kara's head ducked as she tried to catch her sister's eyes. "Alex?"

"I-I heard you."

The two sat in silence for a bit, Kara facing her sister while trying to concoct some magical potion of hope. A tad of hesitation prodded at her throat before she finally licked her lips and breathed, "How do you know that she doesn't like you...in _that_ way?"

Alex flipped her head to her sister instantly, fear gripping her face. She tried to dispel it and drain her humiliation, knowing it would help to talk about it but no more excited to. "After I... _came out_ to you the other day, I went to go see her at the bar." She met Kara's eyes as her words twisted and turned at the back of her throat before she finally ordered them. "I kissed her."

Her sister's eyes widened. Though it wasn't worry in her expression—it was excitement. "You kissed?"

"Well, that's the problem—I kissed. She didn't kiss back. Then she spieled some crap about me being 'fresh off the boat' and that it wasn't her thing, and I was so embarrassed that I just had to get out of there." Alex trained her eyes on her fingers as she twiddled them.

"And that's why you didn't show up for work."

"Yeah."

Kara halted her words there, knowing how hurt and humiliated her sister had felt. In fact, she probably still harboured those feelings. If there was one thing Kara didn't want, it would be Alex's shot at happiness being stamped out the moment after she realised what she wanted. Trying to provide some comfort, she folded her legs up on the couch and placed a hand on her sister's shoulder. "You'll find another girl." The words almost felt weird coming out of her mouth, but at the same time, they seemed very fitting. "I'm glad you came out to me. You're the bravest person I know, Alex. If anyone can tackle this alien, it's you."

Alex puffed out a chuckle, shrugging a little. "Taking on an alien would be easier."

"You can do this," her sister reassured, smiling as she shook Alex's arm affectionately. "Come on. How many times can you meet someone capable of resisting the amazing Alex Danvers?" Alex couldn't stop a grin spreading across her face as she turned to her sister and placed a hand atop Kara's. "You'll meet another woman, Alex. I promise."

Alex's face fell a little. As much as she wanted to hear those words, she found herself hating them. Her thoughts turned into speech without her consent. "I don't want another woman... I want Maggie."

"Alex..."

"Kara, I don't even know...what to do tonight with her. Pool? Really? Was my brain even active when I suggested that?" She sighed, rocketing off the couch and distancing herself as her feeling of isolation grew. "I mean, what if _she_ finds a girlfriend and I don't? I can barely be around her as it is. It'd... Kara, it'd...it'd crush me."

Kara was lost for words. All she could do was watch helplessly as her sister drowned in a sea of speculation. Every time she thought she had the right words, she reconsidered and they died on her lips.

"I thought I could handle pool with Maggie, but maybe I can't. I know I said we were going to be friends, but now I'm thinking that I should just—"

"Alex!" Kara barked, a little more aggressively than she meant to. She jumped off the couch, grabbing her sister's arms and projecting as much support through her fixed gaze as she could. "You're over-thinking things. I think that you're perfectly capable of being friends, but having time to dwell on your feelings is only going to make you see the negatives and make you want to back out. Because you're scared, and that's okay." She could see her words were having sway already, but she wasn't done yet. "I might not think...the world of Maggie, but I know that she cares about you. Maybe...not in the way you want, but she does care. I...I heard what she said about not wanting to imagine her life without you. If this was two days ago, I would be telling you that spending time around her isn't a good idea, but after hearing her speech last night, well...I think differently." She offered a warm smile, too hesitant to suggest that Maggie might harbour returned feelings but was unwilling to pursue them at the moment. "I mean, really, she showed up unannounced just to tell you how much she cared. In a way, she put herself in a position to be rejected, but she took the risk anyway. Maybe she did that because...she felt bad about how she made you feel."

Alex sighed and gave a defeated shrug. She returned to the couch, one leg hanging off as Kara remained standing. "I've never been with a girl. I don't even know if there are different, I dunno, rules or something."

"Rules?" Kara giggled. "I don't think there are rules for any sort of dating."

"You know what I mean. And it's not like I have a point of reference. I don't think I've ever had a gay friend."

Kara grew silent, drawing her sister's attention. The two met gazes and Alex frowned a little, narrowing her eyes. Kara took a seat beside her and inclined a thoughtful look toward her sister. "I...get a feeling about Lena."

Alex's jaw dropped. "Wait, what? Lena...Luthor? What feeling?"

Kara gave a hesitant nod and a sheepish smile. "I know this sounds crazy, but sometimes she looks at me in this way and... I-I'm probably just imagining it."

Alex was suddenly a mixture between serious and amused. "Oh, no. You don't get to stop there. Kara, I just came _out_ to you. If there is anything going on between—"

"What! That's not what I said," Kara gasped, furrowing her brow.

The corner of Alex's mouth rose. " _What's_ not what you said?"

Kara snorted out a pent-up breath. "I'm just saying...she has this...smile. This look. Like she's intrigued by me. And sometimes it makes me wonder...you know, if she's..."

Alex was leaning her elbow against the back of the couch as if listening to a juicy story. "If she's what?"

"Well, maybe..." she began, clearly feeling awkward. "Maybe she's into me."

Alex's eyebrows remained at the top of her forehead, her mouth ajar. "She likes you?"

Kara's eyes darted away. "I-I don't know! And you—you need to get ready. It's already seven!"

Alex knew that her sister was intentionally switching the focus onto her, but she let their conversation slide anyway...for now.

 **ooo**

For the next fifteen minutes, Alex had been getting changed and touching up her face while Kara wolfed down potstickers. Although she hadn't brought up Kara's mention of Lena Luthor, Alex found herself contemplating scenario after scenario. Had Kara been talking about how Lena felt about her...or did she possibly have the tiniest of girl crushes? If that were the case, Alex couldn't blame her. Lena was sexy. Although she hadn't seen much of her, she knew enough to make that claim.

Her mind was thrown back to the other day when Lena had dropped in to Kara's apartment. She had almost expected Maggie to show up. That was the day after Winn had made a passing comment in a different context that Alex didn't have a romantic interest in Maggie. That was when she first began to question things. Not on any conscious level—just a lingering question in the back of her mind. It had almost saddened her when Winn had made that statement, although she wasn't sure if that was due to the fact that she wanted to feel something, or that she was afraid to. Or perhaps the fact that he had automatically assumed she couldn't have had feelings for someone simply because of their gender was what had struck a nerve. If it had been a man, then perhaps he would have jumped to a different conclusion. If she had been "normal."

A few hours after Winn's comment, she tried to organise a night with Maggie just to help get her mind off her breakup, but the conversation morphed into the personification of Alex's fear. For the rest of the day, she had been mulling over every thought that suggested she had romantic feelings for Maggie, which grew into thoughts of every other girl she had ever had a stray feeling for. She steered clear of her intentionally, contemplating how she felt and analysing her whole life until that point. The following day, she had almost talked to Kara about it, but Lena had shown up and interrupted.

"Alex, where'd you go?"

Suddenly she snapped from her thoughts, flinging her gaze at her sister huddled on the couch. She pushed out a long breath. "Just thinking."

Kara's face became stern. "I hope you're not thinking of backing out."

"No, not that. I-it's nothing." She breathed deeply, ducking into the bathroom again. Why was she constantly checking how she looked? It wasn't a date. It was two friends hanging out. Just friends.

"Okay, well... Do you want a potsticker before you go?"

"No, you eat them," Alex chuckled, glad that she didn't have to eat yet another one of those things. She gathered up her bag and keys, ensuring her back pocket held her phone. She faced Kara and smiled. "I'll see you later. And thanks—for listening."

Kara's cheeks were filled with dumpling as she shot to her feet and embraced her sister. "I'm pahd uv foo." Realising how silly she sounded, the Kryptonian swallowed her mouthful with great effort and repeated, "I'm proud of you."

 **ooo**

Alex's stomach was rolling itself in bundles as she approached the back door of the alien bar. How on earth was this night going to go? Last night when she had rashly made plans with Maggie, she had been rather confident. Now, however, she was quaking. And she _hated_ it.

She lifted a hand to the door, ready to utter the password if need be, and heard some brutish grunting from the other side. Before she knew it, a hulking figure filled her view as the door disappeared behind it. She flew backwards as the alien lumbered into her, too oblivious at first to process that he had caused any harm.

As Alex hit the ground, she shot a glare of rage to the offender and spewed, "Watch it!"

The alien, taken by surprise, made a dizzy turn back to her. By his unsteady motions and swaying frame, she guessed he was drunk. "Stupid tiny human." He curled back his wet lips in a deceitful smile to reveal jagged teeth, swiping a great paw at the air as a means of dismissal.

As he turned his back and began to stumble away, Alex felt her blood beginning to boil. "Are you god-damn kidding?" She pushed herself to her feet and barrelled into his back, sending him sprawling forward several steps, his arms flailing about. "I said, _watch it_."

Doubt blossomed in her mind the second the alien gained his ground and whirled around, a face of grotesque rage contorting his scaly features. "STUPID human!" he bellowed, charging at her shoulder-first.

Alex's inner agent kicked in, prompting her to dodge when he was too close to change his course, and launched a boot into his side as he thumped past. She felt a cocky smile well up on her face; adrenaline seemed to be a good remedy for nervousness.

The alien faced her once again, eyes glazing over with a black film. With little effort, the creature squeezed his muscles and produced several spines lining his face, arms and back. Suddenly Alex was hesitant to continue this brawl; she certainly hadn't expected this when her mixed emotions had driven her to pick a fight.

She swallowed, shifting her weight between each foot in case an impromptu movement was required. "Okay, you've made your point." She paused, silently cursing herself for unwittingly making a pun. The creature wasn't impressed. "No need to bring... _those_ into it."

"Foolish creature, challenging a virtog to a fight it can't win." He flung his arm up so it was horizontal and fired a large spike. It tore through the air and bit into Alex's right leg while gliding past, stealing a shred of denim from her jeans.

She yelped at the shock and the sudden pain, hearing the spike collide with the alley wall behind her and instantly shatter. Fear launched her thoughts into a hurricane of regret, and she suddenly wished Kara had come with her.

She snarled at the beast and stood upright, trying to tuck away her pain as she readied herself for another attack. "You'll have to aim a little better than that."

As the alien levelled his second arm with his first, the door to the bar squealed and slammed. He shot a blurry gaze in its direction, but didn't get the chance to react before his body began to seize and a deafening roar of pain shredded the air. Alex covered her ears as she watched the monster's body vibrate relentlessly, his cries ceasing only when his body rocked and fell limp on the ground. Standing behind him, taser in hand, was none other than Maggie Swayer.

Alex, still panting, shook her head in disbelief. Maggie's face was lit with amusement. "What a way to start the evening."

"Maggie. How did you..."

"I had a hunch," she offered, crossing the unconscious brute's arms over his back and pinning them down under her boot. "You're lucky he was drunk. These guys are known for their accuracy and, uh, love of the fight."

Alex blew through her nose and subtly covered her injury with her hand, careful not to make contact. This was the second time in one day she had avoided a serious injury thanks to alcohol. "You're a lot better at subduing criminals than you are at pool, that's for sure."

Maggie shrugged. "Maybe I should just stick to my day job then."

"Maybe you should," Alex remarked, sounding a little too serious to be playful.

Maggie face fell as she inclined her head and met Alex's gaze. "Alex, if tonight was too soon—"

"No, it's not," the D.E.O. agent remarked, trying as hard as she could to keep her voice level. As she analysed Maggie's face, she felt a pang of guilt and took a breath to steady herself before relenting to a more friendly approach. The fact that two limbs were now in pain didn't help her mood. "Sorry, I just...need a drink in me."

"I hear ya."

"Where did you get that thing?" She motioned to the taser.

"Security here needs to have efficient ways of putting offenders down. Ya know, keep powerful aliens from killing each other." Alex nodded as Maggie pressed down on the alien's wrists more firmly before cuffing him.

She asked her to watch him as she quickly ducked inside to get security to bring him into a back room to sit for a few hours. Maggie had no intention of actually bringing him into the precinct; she just wanted to scare him a little by keeping him isolated while he sobered up. That way, she didn't have to worry about him during her evening or after it.

Once that was taken care of, the two women entered the establishment and approached the bar. Just as they were about to sit, Maggie couldn't help but notice Alex's strange expression. She gave her a once-over before her eyes fell to the thigh Alex was suspiciously guarding. "Are you injured?"

"No, I'm..." Alex breathed in, cringing. She removed her hand. "Yeah. One of his spikes...grazed me."

"Why didn't you say something?" Maggie growled, dashing out the back once letting the bartender know what she was doing.

She returned with a first aid kit and sat Alex down on one of the bar stools. She placed a hand at the back of Alex's knee to keep the leg still, leaning over her thigh. Alex was visibly uncomfortable for more than one reason, which Maggie picked up on.

"Sorry about all this," she sighed, appearing to feel responsible. After all, this was _her_ frequented bar.

Alex frowned. "No, it was my fault."

"What do you mean?"

"I...may have started that fight."

Maggie paused her treatment for a second, her face a mix of amusement and disbelief. "You have a death wish, Danvers?"

Alex couldn't help but chuckle. "I was...mad." When Maggie met her gaze, assuming she was the cause, Alex extended on her explanation. "You know, my head's been a mess lately and I was...scared to come here."

Maggie shook her head. "Nah, you don't need to be scared. I mean, other than of that virtog."

She nearly stopped the procedure to explain that the bandage needed to be beneath the jeans, but caught her tongue before a word slipped out. You can't pull up jeans. Alex would need to take them off, and Maggie was not about to ask her to do that. Instead, she placed a padded strip across the gash just inside the tear of the fabric, and applied the wrap externally.

She worked for another few seconds before she considered the wound wrapped and treated. It was painful, but Alex had suffered worse. "All done," she smiled, removing her hand and packing away the kit.

"Thanks."

After the kit was returned, the two ordered a drink each. Maggie was footing the bill, given that she had previously promised a drink. Alex was the first to down her shot and then asked for a second; she briefly wondered why she was feeling unusually reckless, but she figured that being a little pissed off at the whole situation was reason enough. Pissed off, scared, unsure, and completely sure. Sure of her feelings, and sure that they weren't reciprocated.

"I'm thinking of telling my mom," Alex admitted by way of breaking the silence.

Maggie gave a small nod. "Parents are the hardest to tell."

Alex cupped her empty glass, staring into it for a moment before looking up. "How did you do it?"

The detective relaxed in her seat, sitting back against the shallow metal frame. "Well, I just told her one day when we were alone. I knew when I was still a teenager, before I'd even had a girlfriend, actually. So when I told her, the first thing she asked me was how I knew. I don't think anyone going through that likes being questioned, so I leaped to the defensive. Things were said, and..." She shrugged. "I sort of knew she wasn't comfortable with it, but she told me that she would be supportive as long as I never did anything stupid." She took a swig of her beer, subtly nodding as she reminisced. "We didn't speak about it for a long time after that. I had girlfriends, and she treated them like she treated any of my other friends, so we never really had a problem."

"What about now?"

"We don't talk about it. Still." She had another swig, looking rather unfazed. "You know, I can't be walking down the street with her and make a comment about some hot girl. That'd be weird."

Alex found that sort of sad. She briefly wondered if she would be able to do that around Kara. In the past, the two had agreed upon handsome men, but now that Alex was out...would it be different?

"It's the same with my dad," Maggie finished, still looking rather unaffected. "You get used to it after a while, though. I found myself drifting toward male friends, 'cause talking about girls with them isn't awkward. Even the gay ones."

Alex managed a weak smile, contemplating everything she would lose. She didn't have many friends as it was; she and Kara both distanced themselves from people to keep them from finding out about her secret. Neither had really experienced a normal life thanks to Kara's Kryptonian heritage. It's not like she saw her mother much at all either. In reality, she was losing a lot less than the average person.

"Anyway, enough about me. How're you doing with...everything?"

Alex bit the inside of her lip. She wanted to tell Maggie that she was angry at her, and sad, still muddled, and still sure that she felt something for her. Every time Maggie's enchanting, cheeky smile stretched across her face, Alex found herself bedazzled. Her stomach fluttered and a burning sensation flared up in her cheeks, spreading to her chest. Maggie's gentle but strong gaze sent her heart a personal invitation to beat faster, tempting it to burst from her chest. Everything she felt was doomed to imprisonment inside her, unable to spill out and taste freedom. All because they weren't reciprocated.

Despite every feeling, Alex simply replied, "Fine."

"Your second round," the waitress announced, placing another beer and a second shot of scotch on the table. Alex nodded to her in acknowledgement, more than relieved that it was not Darla.

She downed it in one go, much to Maggie's surprise, and pointed to the beer. "You want that?"

Maggie was a little lost for words. "Nah, no, you have it," she offered, still on her first. A voice at the back of her mind told her that it wasn't a good idea to let Alex have a third drink in five minutes, but if anyone knew how it felt to emerge from the closet and feel absolutely terrified and awful, it was Maggie. So she let it slide, making a mental note to keep a careful watch over her companion.

"Pool," Alex grunted, indicating the billiard table adjacent to their spot. She departed her seat after swiping her beer and marched over to the pool area, snagging a free cue. She had been keeping an eye on the match that had been progressing for the past five minutes, and the second it had wrapped up, she jumped in to claim it.

Maggie followed, taking note of her friend's every movement. Alex was naturally fiery; she could only imagine how amplified her attitude would become under the influence of alcohol. The last thing she wanted was another bar fight.

As Alex rubbed the tip of her cue in a clump of blue chalk attached to the billiard table, she couldn't help but stare at the fluorescent lampshade hanging over the raised rectangle of teal carpet. Its obnoxiously decorative sight haunted her ever since she had reeled Maggie in by the arm, cupped her face and kissed her. It was a feeling she would never forget, but the cold wave of rejection she had faced shortly after was what lingered.

Suddenly she began to feel the wounds in her arm and leg throb, and she gritted her teeth, spinning around to meet Maggie directly in front of her. Both women were taken aback, and again Alex was met with a flashback from the exact same spot. Scowling, she backed up and rounded the table with her beer, setting it on a nearby table for convenience while avoiding Maggie's gaze. It was obvious that the detective knew what she was remembering, and although she knew it pained Maggie that Alex was still hurt by the events, she couldn't quite bring herself to discuss it again. Instead, she set the cue upright and displayed a forced smile.

"Your shot first."

Maggie chose to brush off the previous awkwardness and picked up a cue. "So sure you're gonna win?"

"It's only fair to give you _some_ sort of head-start so you think you have a chance before I kick your ass," she snickered, downing half the beer bottle.

"Careful," Maggie warned as she lined up her cue, "or you'll be playing cleanup instead of pool."

Alex frowned a little, then tilted her bottle. "What, this? Please. I could down three of these and still recite my sixth-grade class president speech backwards."

"Heh. _Really_." Maggie chuckled, firing off her first shot. Every sphere on the table bounced and rolled before settling. Nothing was potted. "I take your _three_ and raise you five."

"Five beers?" Alex snorted, sauntering toward her. "I don't think you can handle that, Sawyer." Her eyebrow flicked up at the final word in the sentence, clearly a challenge.

The two women broke smug gazes only when Alex bent over the pool table to line up her shot. Maggie didn't move from the space beside her, unwilling to back down. Alex fired, just missing an opportunity to pot a ball by a hair. She narrowed her eyes, wondering at the back of her mind if the alcohol was already affecting her.

She stood up straight, greeted by an amused Maggie leaning on her cue. Their close proximity, Alex found, was bothering her less and less the more she drank. "I think it's already getting to you."

"Maybe you should try to even it up, _Five Beers_ ," Alex countered.

Maggie produced a noise of amusement and cocked a larger smile, sending butterflies about Alex's stomach. She signalled a waitress and ordered another four beers, then turned to face Alex. She downed the rest of her current drink in one go, then hammered the empty bottle onto the occupied table beside them.

"You're on."


	2. Chapter 2: Drinks and Discoveries

Alex slammed her cue into the pearly ball at an awkward angle. The force drove the ball into the air for a split second before it collided with another, completely ruining her angle.

"What was _that_?" teased Maggie, who had downed four out of her five beers. Things were getting pretty blurry, but it was no secret that her opponent was more affected.

Alex rocked her head. "I can't believe I'm only beating you by one."

"With shots like that, are you really surprised?" Maggie raised her brow and smiled, tilting the last of her beer into her mouth. "I may just beat you this time, Danvers." She indicated to the bottle. "On both accounts."

"Don't count your...things before they hatch," Alex stammered. She had wanted to procure something witty, but in her clouded state, nothing had arrived.

The events of the past thirty minutes had been increasingly spectated by a growing band of onlookers. At first, a duo of men had been drawn to their match at the sight of two women competing. Most of the bar's patrons knew Maggie and were beginning to become familiar with Alex, so their curiosity had been piqued when a rowdy match between a newcomer and a veteran had drawn their attention. The crowd swelled as the match carried on; it became clear to the viewers that the reason for the drawn-out match was not due to both players' crafty, inhibiting expertise, but, rather, each woman's failure to effectively surpass the other's score.

There was one particular woman who had been giggling at Alex's comments, failures, and successes. Alex had gathered, by her maroon complexion and subtle array of nonhuman features, that she was an alien. Between Kara's heritage and Maggie's history with them, she did not find herself deterred from exchanging the occasional glance and playful grin with the stranger. There was something alluring about her.

Maggie continued to hover around her opponent, as she had done for the past half hour. Alex had concluded that it was a method devised to distract her. Some part of her was feeling sour that she was using her known infatuation against her. Another part of her found it sexy that Maggie used it to her advantage. She couldn't choose which voice was better to side with.

"Oh my god," began Alex, suddenly realising something. "I can't...drive home. You can't drive home either."

Maggie merely grinned, as if it were the least of her worries. "We'll get a cab," she chuckled as if it was completely obvious.

Alex giggled, far too unsteady to think about taking her shot before stilling herself. "Or, or we could just get Kara to fly us home!" She was mid-laugh when what she had said dawned on her. Face serious and eyes suddenly wide, she flicked her sharp gaze toward Maggie, who seemed to think nothing of her comment. Her mind raced as she blurted, "You know, 'cause she's a really fast driver. In that car she has. 'Cause it has really good..." Her mind went blank. "Wheels."

Maggie choked out a laugh, shaking her head. "You're gone, Danvers."

Alex brightened once realising she gave nothing away. "Am not!"

"Take your shot then, _straightshooter_."

She hadn't even realised Maggie had had her turn. She scoffed, lowering her eye to the cue. _'If I was straight, I probably wouldn't be here right now.'_ She launched her rod, driving the cue ball through a set of parted balls. It bounced off the table's opposite wall and rolled back with enough velocity to knock her purple target into a corner net. The crowd erupted into a frenzy of claps and cheers as she pointed a smug set of eyes at her opponent, then arranged her follow-up shot. The ball touched another one of hers, but nothing was potted. Still, she felt satisfied that she was now winning by two points. Again she caught Maggie's gaze and closed the distance between them. "Still think I'm gone, Sawyer?"

Maggie tilted her head, her confidence remaining unshaken. "Yeah, I do," she responded, her tone suggesting mock-pity. "It's also making you sloppy."

She eddied around Alex, whose face followed closely, and positioned herself behind the white ball. The position she took was awkward, but Alex soon realised that she had placed the ball in a perfect position for Maggie to score a point, which she did with ease. Following that, she potted another. Her third shot did not land her any further points, but it put Alex in a bind.

As Maggie reapproached, Alex felt herself smirking again. "Wow. I think you've learned a few things."

"Still think I should stick to my day job?" she purred.

Alex felt a shiver snake down her arm as she watched the detective swipe a fresh bottle of beer from a fan and pop the loose cap off. She gave her head a small shake, declining a shot of whiskey from a spectator behind her. Once Maggie was looking, she inclined her head. "I'll be right back."

"Aw, you gonna break the seal, Danvers?" she teased, but Alex didn't respond as she headed for the bathroom with a grin splashed across her face.

She practically beat the doors in while a surge of excitement rippled through her. Never had she been the object of a crowd's cheers, so this new experience was fun for her. Quietly she mused that there was nobody she would rather share it with than Maggie.

The thought dampened her mood as she once again revisited the unpleasant reality that the detective saw her as nothing more than a friend. There were times that Alex was sure Maggie was flirting, but after the awkward kiss and the car park confrontation, she had tried to drill any potential misinterpretations from her mind. It did not please her to do so, but for the sake of her sanity, she had to.

Alex analysed her bleary reflection in the mirror-lined bathroom wall above a row of sinks, gripping the edge of the bench to steady herself. She looked a little more ragged than she had expected, which was a likely effect of the drinks, but she was still in one piece. And still, she hoped, maintained her dignity.

She whirled around to the stalls, seeing four empty and one occupied. Like many public restrooms, this one was dirty, smelly, a victim of graffiti, and overall unappealing. However, given her bladder's fullness, she wasn't feeling particularly picky. Her thoughts kept her still for a few moments more as she heard the only occupied toilet flush, and she turned back to the mirror for one last look-over.

"You're pretty impressive."

Alex whirled around, instinctively throwing a hand to the gun at her hip. Her alertness lasted mere moments when common sense aborted her actions as she recognised the maroon-skinned woman before her: the alien from before with whom she had exchanged friendly looks. "Thanks," she blurted, feeling slightly wobbly in response to both alcohol and the obviously interested stranger. The woman gave her hands a quick rinse, her amber eyes never straying from Alex's. Not knowing what else to say, she asked, "Uhh, do you come here often?"

"I like this place for its company," the stranger hummed, flicking the water from her elongated fingertips. Her fangs flashed every time she parted her lips. "And its seclusion. We don't get many humans passing by."

"I see," Alex began, unsure where this was leading. The alien was slowly closing in on her, and she didn't know how she should react. Other than to continue the small talk, of course. "You, uh, you enjoying the game?"

"I'm enjoying those stolen glances with you," she smiled, something unsettling about the way her lips curled. "Where I'm from, we don't discriminate based on petty traits such as gender. I have come to learn here that such views are uncommon..." Her face was clouding with some form of sympathy, as if Alex was a lost puppy she had found shivering on the street. Her jet black bob moved in time with her steps, the thick and dark rims around her eyes drawing in Alex's gaze. This alien seemed to resemble a human for the most part, but small differences kept Alex intrigued.

The words lingered in Alex's mind and she frowned. Had this alien heard that she had recently come out? "Really?" she questioned, raising an eyebrow while crossing her arms. She may have been under the influence of alcohol, but she still had fully functional sass. "What, you're here to pity me or something?"

"Quite the opposite," the alien assured with a slow rock of her head. She took another few steps. With quiet shock, Alex realised her back was to the wall.

The stranger made no attempt to hide the full-body scan her eyes performed. Alex wasn't sure if that was alluring or a sign that she was hungry for human. Her eyes stopped at the obvious wound on the agent's thigh, and immediately she reached for it. Alex was about to jolt forwards and swat her hand away before she realised that the alien was merely caressing the outside of her leg, careful not to touch the wound. Quietly she wondered how she knew where the injury was; maybe there was more to her body scan than overt visual indulgence.

"My, your wound seems to be the work of a virtog spike," she concluded, eyes still on the bandage. The water on her fingers, still wet from washing her hands, began to seep through the bandage. Despite this, her touch was still warm.

Alex narrowed her eyes a little. "How did you—"

"My species has a talent for deduction." She ran her fingers a few centimetres up Alex's side before withdrawing her hand in a slow curl.

Alex was lost for what to do; on one hand, fraternising in a bathroom was not something she wanted on her list of experiences, and on the other, she didn't want to pull away. In her moderately intoxicated state, she was finding many things hard to determine, such as why her heart was hammering or why she felt captivated by this woman. However, it was becoming increasingly hard to ignore the pressure in her bladder yearning to be released, which morphed into her priority.

"I-I need to use one of those," she stammered, sliding against the wall and breaking free of the stranger's metaphorical grip. She darted into a stall, locking it faster than necessary. For a moment all she could do was curl and uncurl her fists out of nervousness, trying to calm her breathing. She wondered if she was inclined to pursue anything with this alien, even just for the purpose of experimentation. But was that wrong? Was it what she wanted?

Her internal wrestling paused when she heard the sound of the door open and hiss closed again, and the bathroom was suddenly quiet. She was relieved to know that the stranger had left, but found herself partly disappointed.

Once she was finished, she washed her hands and again stared at her reflection, shaking her head. A week ago she thought she was straight, and tonight she was contemplating fooling around with a woman. A mysterious, nonhuman woman she barely knew. She figured it was a good sign. It wasn't that she wanted to move on from her feelings for Maggie, but if it helped her figure out who she was and what she wanted, she found herself willing to try with someone actually interested in her. She chuckled at herself for over-thinking things and hung her head.

The sound of the door opening set off a tiny bomb in Alex's gut. She turned to the entrance but to her disappointment, her eyes settled not upon the alien, but on a random patron. She breathed a sigh, trying to order her thoughts.

Alex returned to the pool table and caught sight of her maroon admirer conversing with a couple of alien males. She narrowed her eyes a little, wondering if the stranger's attention had been permanently reassigned.

"Makin' a new friend?" Maggie asked, drawing Alex's attention. The shorter woman offered her usual honey-soaked smile and relayed a subtly questioning look.

"Maybe," Alex murmured, snapping back into her earlier mind frame. She swooped up her cue stick and turned to Maggie, who, by the looks of it, had a few unwanted male fans a little too close for comfort.

"Your turn, Danvers," she informed, holding an arm out over the table. She crossed behind Alex, stopping on her opposite side. In response, Alex employed a curious grin, which Maggie flattened her expression at. "What?"

"Got a few admirers you can't get rid of?" Alex smirked.

"You have no idea," Maggie groaned, slurring her words a little. She realised that Alex picked up on it and cleared her throat. "You did not just hear me slur my words."

"Oh, I did."

"Just take your shot, Danvers," Maggie insisted, watching as her companion lined up her stick after contemplating the angle. She was trying her hardest to be accurate while she fought off the mist grasping at her mind, but it proved a difficult task. She could feel Maggie's tantalising smile glaring at her from the side, which she attempted to deflect.

Alex launched her shot, but to her horror, she slipped at the last possible millisecond. The results were catastrophic; she missed her target entirely and the cue ball met with the eight-ball, the force from the badly aimed shot pocketing it within moments. Alex's face froze in a look of horror as Maggie erupted into a series of cheers, celebrating by swallowing the rest of her beer and slamming the empty bottle on the same table that the two had begun using at the start of the night. Their audience exploded with pent-up cheers and booing, all of which was background noise to Alex as she contemplated what had just happened.

She was in a complete daze; she rocked her head in disbelief and leaned down to inspect the table for any faults or possible reasons for her tragic loss. However, she found nothing and stood straight, meeting eyes with Maggie. Alex kept her mouth agape as she shook her head slowly with a hand on her hip.

"I beat the mighty Alex Danvers!" the detective announced, followed by the exchange of multiple notes and drinks amongst the crowd. Those who had comprised it began to disperse, each returning to whatever task occupied them before the game. Maggie sauntered closer as her smile successfully conveyed the gratification she felt. "Maybe I should get you drunk more often." She flicked her eyebrows up.

Alex's gaze was hooked on her for a moment before a disappointed patron trudged past, intentionally knocking into her right shoulder. "Jesus! Excuse you," she snapped and got only a grunt in return, feeling a fire beginning to eat away at her upper arm. She instinctively reached for it, accidentally slapping it and causing her more pain.

"He didn't hit you that hard," Maggie chuckled, genuine concern flooding in shortly after. "You okay?"

"Yeah, it's nothing," she mumbled, wondering how she had gone so long without feeling the bite of the arm wound until now.

"Didja get a little... _roughed up_ in the bathroom?" Maggie teased, flashing a suggestive grin.

"No," Alex scolded with a chuckle, removing her jacket and exposing bare arms. She angled the bandage toward Maggie, who appeared mildly sympathetic. "Bullet grazed me earlier today."

"You really want scars that badly, huh?"

Alex's mind turned at the mention of scars. Odd that she had been wondering about them not an hour ago. She hesitated for but a moment. "Depends. Do girls like them?"

Maggie looked rather amused for a second before she set her eyes on two approaching figures. She turned her back to them to look Alex square in the face. "They just don't give up."

"Good evening, ladies," one of the men who had been skulking around announced, his short white-blonde hair a stark contrast to his completely black eyes. He stopped short before Maggie, who made an effort to remove herself.

His friend, holding out two pink drinks, rather unskilfully manoeuvred them to the table the two women were leaning against—the one that held their numerous empty bottles of beer. The table was previously occupied, but the couple seated there had quickly grown sick of the overcrowding.

"I thought I told you guys to beat it," Maggie grunted, wrapping her hand around an empty bottle to make it appear as if she already had a drink.

The first man shrugged. "Nobody likes a quitter. And who would say no to free drinks?" He held out a hand as if he was a master thief presenting a stolen jewel worth far more than all of his possessions combined.

Alex didn't bother stifling her snigger. " _That's_ the drink you pick?" The men were momentarily silenced. "You can _clearly_ see us with beers and you get us, what...cosmos?"

The first man looked to the second, who was clearly responsible. He shook his head a little. "I thought that's what chicks like..."

"Oh, damn," Maggie cursed, feigning seriousness. "I forgot we were all the same." Alex barked out a drunken laugh and rose her mutually empty beer bottle to toast with Maggie.

"Hey," growled the first one, "the least you can do is thank us."

Maggie sighed, an unmoving smile still etched between her features. "Already told you: not interested."

"How about you?" the second man asked, directing his query at Alex. He bounced his dark, bushy eyebrows up and down a little too quickly for comfort.

Maggie snorted as she tilted her beer bottle. "Are you deaf or just stupid?"

"Come on, ladies," he began, still attempting to be charming. "Don't crush a guy's heart."

"Didn't you...crush a man's heart once?" Alex asked Maggie mock-inquisitively.

"Yeah. Literally. Oh, the smell was a _nightmare_ to get out of my uniform."

"Oh, trust me, I've had plenty of alien blood on my hands before. And my jackets, and my jeans..."

The two men exchanged puzzled glances and the second one huffed, clearly offended. "You're a couple o' heartless bitches, you know that?"

Alex was up in a heartbeat, grasping the man's bulky hand and twisting it behind his back. He emitted a cry of pain and shock as his attacker stood with her head at his shoulder, perfectly capable of inclining his hand further despite her altered state.

His friend with the black eyes hissed, ready to strike back at her in retaliation when Maggie bridged the gap between them, pushing back her jacket to reveal her concealed gun. Her eyes narrowed. "Be smart."

He released a small rumble and spat, "You don't even know us. How can you know you're not missing out?"

"Unless you're as skilled with your tongue as you _think_ you are with that hair routine, she's _not interested_."

He bared his oddly green teeth, the tendrils of his hair twisting about one another as if signalling his emotions. His friend managed to grunt out a warning and Alex released her grip, sending the man stumbling into his clearly aggravated friend. The two left not a moment afterwards, leaving the women chuckling to one another.

"Does that happen often?" asked Alex, grinning as she took her seat back.

Maggie shrugged. "Every so often. Most regulars know I'm a lesbian, though. Clearly those guys have no gaydar."

Alex hesitated before wondering, "Do you get many girls hitting on you?"

One side of Maggie's mouth rose into a smile, as if it were doing so without her consent. "I get all sorts of... _interesting_ folk approach me."

Alex smiled inwardly as she eyed the table and picked up the cosmopolitan. "Are these things any good?"

"I dunno. Never had one myself. Always just stuck to beer."

The two sat in silence for a short while. Alex elected to try the cosmo, finding it sweet but not entirely terrible, especially considering it was free. She was surprised she was thinking with such clarity given how much she had consumed, but merely two years ago she would have considered her drink count next to nothing. Back then, she would spend countless nights at clubs hooking up with men she didn't know and drinking in excess. Since finding out she was gay, she had wondered if there had been times in clubs when she had kissed a girl while drunk, or stared at one for a bit too long. Those days were hard to sort through in her mind.

"Oh, for god's sake," Maggie scoffed, rolling her eyes and breaking Alex's thought process. "The third stooge thinks he has a better chance than the first two."

Alex glanced in the direction that the two men had gone. With a groan, she realised that they did in fact have a third friend, and his haughty smirk was only the first shred of evidence to suggest his intentions and expected outcome. She was more than capable of fending off another thick-headed idiot, but she wished that she and Maggie could continue their hangout uninterrupted.

Without warning, Maggie leaped to her feet and crossed to the other side of the beer-ridden table, locking eyes with Alex and slipping herself into the agent's lap. Alex's heart began thudding against her ribcage as Maggie's seductive eyes scanned everywhere between her chest and her lips as if trying to decide on something. Alex could only stare back until Maggie draped over her, planting her lips on her neck. She kissed the smooth skin deeply, sucking gently while guiding her tongue through the next few kisses.

Alex's whole body was on fire as she processed what was happening; the woman straddling her had her immobilised as nerves ripped through her stomach and she tilted her head instinctively, emitting pant after pant. From her peripherals, she noticed the third friend stop in his tracks and then backtrack, but tried to push all thoughts of the trio from her mind. She closed her eyes and placed her hands on Maggie's waist, unsure if she was about to pull her away or draw her in closer. The mixed sensations washed through her in a final wave before it all stopped, leaving a sudden void.

Alex's eyes flickered open, her heart hammering endlessly as Maggie tossed her head in the direction of the male intruders. When she looked satisfied, she uttered, "It worked," and reflected a small smile. She climbed off, casually returning to her seat.

Alex swallowed, repeatedly shaking her head. She channelled her breathing in an attempt to calm it, glancing left and right to gauge who had seen what had just happened. She wiped her cheek with her hand as if trying to rub off the furious red dyeing her skin and felt another blanket of shivers wash down her body.

"Alex?" Maggie inquired, completely oblivious to her actions.

Alex shot to her feet, a serious expression upon her red face as she pointed a wobbly finger at her drinking buddy. "Y-you... _can't_ do that, Maggie. Not to me."

Realisation set in and Maggie got to her feel as well, eyes wide with innocence and guilt at the same time. "Oh my god, Alex, I'm—I wasn't thinking. It's something I used to do with female friends when guys—"

"I'm not your friend," Alex insisted, an unwarranted level of venom in her voice. When Maggie tried to justify herself further, Alex just held up a hand, feeling more unsteady than before. "No, it's fine, I'm just... I just need some air."

She left the table and pushed her way through the crowd to the door, swinging it open and finding a spot to sit beside a dumpster. Her thoughts swirled as her body rocked. All of a sudden she wanted to leave and go home. She couldn't _believe_ what Maggie had just done. The implications were severe, but at the same time, she knew that it had only happened because of all the alcohol the both of them had consumed, and it had been a quick and easy way to dispel the bothersome men.

As much as she had relished the short moments, she also knew that it was a step in the wrong direction for her. If Maggie truly felt nothing for her, then she needed to move on. Being kissed on the neck was almost more intimate than a direct kiss, and the euphoria which had hit Alex like a truck was a cruel taste of what she couldn't have. Maggie should have known better than to toy with her like that.

Her head fell into her hands as she contemplated everything. Perhaps it was just better to pretend it hadn't happened. After all, the two of them had come to the bar to drink, play pool and have fun. Besides, Maggie didn't _really_ mean to tease her...as far as she knew.

After five minutes of contemplation, the chill of the night air finally convinced her to haul herself to her feet and stumble back into the bar. She smiled a little at everything, silently glad that Maggie had done what she had done. Never had she felt anything like it with a man; in a way, this was solid confirmation not only of her feelings for Maggie, but for women in general. She had been in Maggie's position before, but the reverse experience was a first for her. And she liked it.

She inhaled the scent of alcohol and sweat as she entered, spying Maggie sitting at the table drinking a new beer by herself. Maggie shouldn't have done what she did, but nothing could change the past and Alex was willing to forget it if she was. Her reaction to this situation was a deciding factor for any chance they had for a future friendship.

The detective met her eyes and instantly stood. "Alex, I'm so sorry. I'm such an idiot."

"Look, let's forget it," Alex suggested, offering a forgiving smile. Maggie gave a few nods, not moving her eyes. Alex sat down. She was disinclined to apologise, but she wanted to set one thing straight. "I do want to be friends, Maggie. But...you can't—"

"I get it. Won't happen again." Maggie breathed out a small, joyless smile.

Alex felt her cheeks rise as a grin tested her face. "Can't say I hated it." She shrugged, swiping Maggie's beer and dumping some down her throat.

The detective chuckled, taking a seat. "Well, I have many talents."

"Okay, no-one likes a show-off."

Maggie stood. "I'm gonna get you a beer."

"I hope you know I'm keeping this one, too," she called over her shoulder.

As Maggie vanished to grab more booze, Alex sat back in her seat and sipped the beer again, satisfied with how she handled the situation. As much as she wanted to be pissed off at Maggie, the moment she had seen her face, she couldn't help but feel those pestering butterflies she had become so accustomed to.

"Alex, isn't it?" queried a voice from behind, nearly making Alex jump. She span around and her face went blank as she identified the newcomer as the alien from before. From the bathroom. She wore a welcoming smile that was almost too sickeningly sweet to be real.

Her cheeks flared up, a little taken by surprise. "Y-yeah, I'm Dalex Anvers—uhh, Alex Danvers." She gave off an embarrassed trill. "It's all the shots."

"Vasceri," the alien responded. She didn't offer a hand, which momentarily puzzled Alex before she realised that it was an Earth custom. And one only applicable to certain cultures, at that.

"Oh," Maggie chimed in, appearing with two beers in her possession, "so that's your name."

Alex jumped in, indicating to the detective. "You may know Maggie."

"Yes. Darla has spoken about you." The alien gave a very small nod. "Thank you for your secrecy regarding this bar. Many of us consider it a sanctuary."

Maggie gave a shrug, meeting Alex's eyes as if to indicate to her that she had never exaggerated the importance of this "dive bar" to some certain refugees.

Something clicked in Alex's mind. "Are you and Darla friends?"

Vasceri's eyes flickered as a tiny smile curved her lips. "Something like that."

Maggie's eyebrows lifted as she averted her gaze at the implications. Before anything got complicated, she stole Alex's gaze and trained it on their new company while lifting the beers. "Well, Alex and I have got another few drinks to hammer down, so—"

"Actually," began Vasceri, "I was hoping you could join me in a dance." She reached out to Alex's face and removed a bundle of hair from her eyes. Alex was taken aback, a little too entranced by this alien to stop her. She felt her cheeks catch on fire and tried to stamp it out by maintaining her cool.

Her eyes flicked to Maggie for a split second before she stammered, "Y-yeah, yeah, I mean, sure." She breathed an awkward smile, only to be taken by the hand and dragged off. She glanced to Maggie as she left her side, projecting a mixture of apologetic eyes and excitement.

As Maggie watched Alex go, she felt her smile dissipate. It wasn't that she was jealous; she just thought this night was about the two of them. And worse yet, the red alien knew Darla...personally. That was not something she wanted to get mixed up in. She wanted to believe something about the alien put her off, but nothing was standing out to her. Perhaps she was trying to find reasons because this was the first step to her and Alex becoming proper friends, and she didn't want some stranger stealing her chance to mend things. The neck-sucking deed had potentially damaged her chance to salvage anything the two of them had, but it looked like she wasn't going to get the chance to find out tonight.

She buried her thoughts in a scowl and sat down with both beers, knowing that by the end of the night she would be staring a future hangover in the face.

Alex was taken in front of the stage, where a guest was doing a routine with his band. Before she knew it, she had thrown her arms up and her hips were swaying in time with the music. Her alien friend handed her a bright pink drink which looked different to the cosmopolitans. "What's this?" she called over the noise.

"Give it a try," cooed the alien. "Don't worry. It's safe for humans."

Had she been feeling careful, Alex would have rejected it without proper assessment. However, few things in her life seemed to be stable at the moment, and the seed of recklessness which had buried itself in her mind earlier was only just beginning to sprout.

She sipped the drink, tasting the odd swirl of sweet, smoky and sour. She decided after a sip that she liked it, downing the rest in one go. Vasceri laughed at her boldness and relieved her of the empty glass, dancing a little closer.

Alex's surroundings quickly became more of a blur and other bodies appeared left and right, half of them merging into one another as she took note of how skewed her perception had become. The maroon alien had appeared behind her and placed two hands on her waist, moving in time with her. The sudden contact made Alex's chest flare up again, tempting her to close her eyes as her stomach churned and knotted. Then there was a pair of lips on her shoulder. She flashed back to Maggie, but tried to push the thought from her head and wipe her head clean. This woman's touch was exciting and enticing, but as much as she wanted to melt into her embrace, something felt wrong. The longer she waited, the more wrong it felt.

She slipped from the alien's embrace, stumbling forward a few paces. Pain blew up in her stomach, and instantly she knew it was a result of whatever was in that drink. She whirled around, almost expecting to be knocked to the ground, but instead was met with soft hands cradling her face before lips locked with hers. The kiss was gentle but firm, her body beginning to seep into a state of paralysis as she watched the face of the alien pull away. Alex thudded to the dance floor, unable to move. She tried desperately to call out to Maggie, who she had her back to, but her vocal chords were immobile.

"Alex!" shouted a voice, to Alex's utmost relief. Obviously Maggie had been watching her.

A thunderous bang silenced the entire bar. Alex wanted to turn her head to see what was going on, but once more her efforts were futile. She watched as most feet within her field of view stilled, except for one pair, which stepped over her and presumably stopped beside Vasceri.

Alex scowled internally as she thought back to the way the maroon alien had buttered her up and gotten her to lend her trust. The alcohol in her system certainly had not helped with her judgement, but there was little she could do now that her body was immobilised. On top of her paralysis, her mind was spinning and the pink drink was willing her to vomit. Instead, she began to feel her mind fade. She attempted with all her might to stop the effects of the drink from taking hold, but she was completely powerless.

The last thing she heard was Maggie's yelps. With her last strand of consciousness, she hoped that Maggie would be okay.


	3. Chapter 3: Coercion and Confinement

AN: I'm so sorry I didn't update last week. This chapter is a little more action-oriented than the previous two, and it's also a bit longer than each previous chapter, so maybe that makes up for me not updating last week...maybe. Thanks for reading. :D

Chapter Three: Coercion and Confinement

Gritty surroundings slowly blurred into view, several blinks doing nothing to clear the fog. A loud thudding pointed directly to an all-consuming headache as the woman tried to move. She felt herself tilting before she realised she was falling, trying to slide her arm out to catch herself before she hit the concrete floor. She was mostly unsuccessful, her skull colliding with the hard surface and forcing a groan from her mouth. She spluttered, trying to gain some grip on her awareness as she again tested her vision.

"Alex," a muffled voice called, seeming to float about the room. She knew the voice instantly, but her body refused to obey any of her commands. She couldn't speak or move.

Alex's mind twirled, pranced and frolicked through a field of confusion, desperately trying to claw its way to the surface of countless suffocating thoughts. Finally she could wade through the chaos and bring something to the forefront of her mind: she had passed out. The last thing she remembered was lying on the floor of the alien bar...straight after that red stranger had fed her an obviously spiked drink.

Once more she tried to haul herself up, but she only felt her arms tremble. Certain smells became apparent, the most pungent being metallic and crisp. Blood. Then she remembered that she had been shot in the arm and presumed that her wound had reopened.

"Alex, can you hear me?"

' _Maggie,'_ Alex's mind pushed. Judging by where her voice was, she was close, but not close enough to reach. She tried to press out a word of response just to let her know that she was still alive, but it was as if her lips were sewed shut.

"I don't know if you can hear me or not, but she's brought us somewhere... An abandoned warehouse, I think," Maggie explained, and Alex wished she could look at her and respond. She could clearly see that she was in a metal cage, judging by the iron bars driving into the concrete floor. She imagined Maggie was trapped in a separate one.

Suddenly there was the screech of an opening door and Alex felt her anger rising. If she wasn't immobilised, she would get great pleasure out of kicking that red alien's arse. Maggie fell silent, probably building her rage so that she could do the same thing. Alex was desperate to move as she heard footsteps approach. She still had no clue what was going on, where they were or why they were there. She knew that they had been kidnapped. With a bitter taste in her mouth, Alex mentally rolled her eyes at the fact that she always seemed to be the one who got kidnapped.

"Dalex," began the smooth, flawless voice possessed by their kidnapper. Long pointed boots stepped into Alex's view. The alien bent over, her face appearing in her prey's field of view. She tilted her head, her eyes nonchalant and teasing. "That's what you said your name was, right?"

"You gonna troll us to death?" Maggie grumbled, at which Alex wanted to smile.

The red alien's mouth pulled itself into a smile as she kept her eyes trained on Alex. "She's quite the cheeky one. Too bad she's also the expendable one."

Alex felt fear well up in her mind as someone out of her sight opened what appeared to be a cage door. There were sounds of chains pulling, which Alex imagined were grounding Maggie, before the detective grunted in pain. Alex desperately tried to move, finally able to achieve small snail-like movement of her head. In the very corner of her eye, she saw Maggie standing at the back of her cell, her wrists bound together with a chain latched onto a metal ring attached to the floor. A large man had entered her space and had clearly punched her. With her hands tied, she was barely able to defend herself, let alone fight back. He glanced back to the maroon alien, looking to her for directions.

Without removing her eyes from Alex, Vasceri tilted her head the other way, as if she was observing a child achieve something for the first time. "She's feisty. I can see why you like her."

"Leave...her...alone," Alex wheezed, surprised at herself for her being able to squeeze out any words. She attempted not to let her surprise show.

Vasceri's expression dulled. "Looks like your fragile human body is finally dispelling the toxins," she sighed, standing. Alex's eyes followed as best she could from on the floor. Towering over her, the alien looked a little intimidating.

"You...spiked—"

"Oh, I didn't spike anything, darling," she responded casually, signalling to her grunt. He closed Maggie's cell door and appeared by his boss' side, glaring down at Alex's vulnerable form. "It's just regular alcohol where I come from. Human biology isn't capable of properly filtering it, so it paralyses them. Quite handy, really."

"You're sick," Maggie hissed, venom dripping from her words.

Vasceri seemed to take it as a compliment. "Careful, or he'll put you in your place again," she warned, her face lit with amusement. She stroked the big man's muscle as he stood rigid. "I didn't hire him for his intellect." She realigned her focus and locked eyes with Alex. "I'll give you some time to sober up, and then I'll be back. Don't worry; I'll leave the fiery one alive...for now."

With one last flashy grin, the two aliens showed themselves out, bolting a big door from the outside.

Alex felt power return to her limbs and she hoisted herself upright, her seated position bringing dizziness to her mind. Trying to tap into any thoughts or memories was difficult, so she let her brain rest as she set her eyes upon Maggie. Her vision was still smeared, but she could feel it returning.

"Are you okay?" Maggie asked, her voice drenched with concern.

Alex moaned by way of reply, bringing a very slow hand to her forehead. "What...happened?"

"That shitty excuse for an alien happened," she snarled, pulling at the chain connecting her to the floor. "She drugged you, you passed out, and then her lackeys took us both. She nearly killed two people in the process...not to mention you."

Alex blew out an exaggerated sigh, a frown carved into her face. "There...was a bang."

"It was a gun. She fired it at the ceiling to get everyone's attention after you collapsed. I tried calling to you, but you were already out."

Alex slowly shook her head, wondering how the hell she and Maggie had wound up in this scenario. Maggie still seemed to have her attitude, which was a plus, even if both of them were locked up.

Suddenly her stomach began to churn as if it was bubbling with tar. Her mind span and unsteadiness brought her to the floor again. She heard Maggie shout to her as she retched, feeling a tunnel of hot acid boil up her throat. She managed to prop herself on her arms before she threw up, her body trying to rid itself of the alien alcohol still running rampant through her system. Mixing drinks had not been intelligent at all and neither was the quantity she had ingested. Nobody could have predicted that a night at the bar would turn into a kidnapping, but that didn't make her feel any less responsible.

After another minute or so of toxin cleansing, Alex forced in a few breaths, wishing for water. She kept her eyes averted from Maggie. Vomiting in front of someone she liked did nothing for her confidence.

"Ooh," Maggie cringed, "how ya goin' over there?"

"Just...pretend you didn't just see that," Alex pleaded, her head hanging over the concrete. She watched as her faintly swaying hair narrowly skirted the vomit, glad that foul-smelling locks wouldn't be an additional problem.

The frigid temperature of the concrete was beginning to crawl up her forearms and pool in her shoulders, prompting her to sit back up. As she placed a hand over her stomach, it occurred to her that her arms were completely bare. Her cloudy mind searched for the reason, settling upon an earlier memory of removing her jacket to show Maggie her wound. It had been warm and muggy in the bar thanks to body heat, and in her preoccupied state she had failed to prioritise reclothing herself. Quietly she thanked herself for not removing more clothing – whatever reason she would have had to do so – for fear that it may not have made its way back onto her body.

She knew the cold was going to be a problem if she was going to be kept prisoner for much longer. As she traced a hand up the opposite arm, she felt her fingers running over hundreds of tiny goose bumps. In addition to feeling disgustingly sick, having a pounding headache and being trapped in a stranger's secret lair, she was shivering from the cold. Her mind turned back to her trip to the bathroom, and she prayed that her bladder wouldn't soon ask again to be emptied.

Alex's attention was drawn by the figure in the diagonally opposite cell. She could see Maggie reaching through the top of her jacket to her shoulder, and at first she assumed she was adjusting a strap. However, there was a faint ripping sound before she proceeded to mirror the move with the opposite shoulder. Then she tucked her cuffed hands under her shirt from the bottom and pulled. After a few tugs, the singlet came off over her shoes. She balled it up, stepping out to the length of her chain and hurled the bundle out of her cell. It uncurled mid-flight rather hopelessly before flopping just short of Alex's confinement.

"I'd give you my jacket, but this chain makes it kinda difficult to take off," Maggie explained.

Alex was lost for what to say as she wiggled toward the front of her cell and stuck a leg between the bars. Her heel caught on the singlet and she reeled it in, awkwardly tossing it over her front like a tiny blanket. She readjusted, putting both arms into the singlet so they were covered. The singlet was thin, and her prickly skin still remained, but it was better than nothing.

"Thanks, Maggie," she shivered, remaining at the front of her cell where she was closer to her.

"Look, Alex," began Maggie, her gaze pointed downward for a moment. "I feel like an idiot for not...realising she was shady."

Alex frowned, unsure what she meant. "Wait, Maggie, _you_ feel bad? I'm the one who should have known, not you."

"I'm a detective. We're supposed to know."

"No, no, I...shouldn't have accepted that drink..." Alex sighed, knowing there was no point dwelling on her mistakes. "We need to find a way out of here." She glanced to the top of the cell for ideas, scanning the surrounding metal bars. Nothing stood out to her, and in her weakened state, she doubted she would be able to break out using force alone. The only way any of the rods were going to bend was if they were already warped, but even then they would need more pressure than what Alex could apply.

"I've already looked for weak points," Maggie mentioned. "Nothing worse than a bad guy who knows what they're doin'."

"We'll find a way," Alex commented while still busy scanning her cell. She had tried to stand, but the toxins were not flushed from her body and while she was no longer feeling paralysed, it still drained her energy far more than it should have.

"Only if I give you one," boomed a voice, alerting both women to Vasceri's presence. As she rounded Alex's cage and came between them both, she snorted in entertainment. "I never left the room. My brute did, but I wanted to spy on you. See if you were going to discuss how Supergirl's going to come and save you."

"Supergirl?" Maggie questioned, as if her mind hadn't visited that option yet.

"Oh, don't play dumb, detective." Vasceri began to pace. "It's no secret that you have connections to her, Dalex."

Alex groaned at the mocking name but chose to ignore it. "We don't have connections to Supergirl."

"You know what I hate, Anvers?" The alien closed in, placing her face between two bars as she looked the agent dead in the eyes. "Liars." She pulled away, instantly whirling around and thrusting a throwing dart directly into Maggie's right leg. She cried out, both hands suddenly drawn to the wound like magnets. Her breathing was loud and unsteady as she drilled a sneering glare into the alien.

Alex puffed out an exasperated breath, realising that Vasceri meant business. As the maroon-skinned creature procured another dart, Alex shot to her feet and slammed an arm through the bars. "Wait!"

Vasceri halted her movements and slowly turned, satisfaction drenching her smug face. "Ready to talk?"

Alex felt her brain squeezing itself dry for drops of energy as she tried to remain standing. She caught Maggie's gaze, which was a mixture of fear, rage and stubbornness. As much as she knew negotiating with a terrorist was against her and Maggie's usual orders, she couldn't bear to allow her to suffer more pain.

Through gritted teeth, Alex uttered, "Yes."

ooo

Alex released a sigh from her nose as Vasceri glared hungrily at her. The alien had tied her to a chair in another room and clutched her victim's phone, scrolling through her contacts to determine which of them could be Supergirl. Alex insisted repeatedly that she didn't know Supergirl's secret identity, although the fact that she worked with her was not something she could keep under wraps.

Vasceri had proceeded to use numerous seduction techniques on her victim, but Alex had been more than capable of deflecting each one. It had been revealed that Vasceri's species had the power to enchant people on Earth by paralysing them with a kiss, but it only worked to its full capacity on individuals whose minds were not preoccupied by another. It was why she had needed to resort to using the drink, which had similar effects. In essence, the kiss had only been a demonstration of her power, and proof that she had the means to take whatever she desired. The weakness of the kiss had only solidified the alien's suspicions about the extent of Alex's feelings for Maggie, which she was more than willing to exploit.

The maroon-skinned alien sighed, appearing calm despite her inclination to hurl the phone across the small room. "You know, the more reluctant you are with me, the more it makes me want to use your little pet in there as a dart board."

"If you lay a finger on her, I swear to _god_ , you will regret ever leaving your planet."

"Then again," the woman continued, unfazed by Alex's threats, "You're more like _her_ pet...isn't that right?" A wry smile carved itself into her jaws. "I saw her use you as a flashing neon sign telling those men that you weren't interested in them. She did it like it was nothing...like she's done it a thousand times."

Alex felt herself stiffen but tried to shelve her reaction immediately. "Actually, I told her to do it."

The alien laughed. "Ah, but if you were calling the shots, you wouldn't have accepted that dance with me, now, would you? No, it's clear that you want her, but she... She doesn't want you."

"You're gonna have to try harder than that to get to me," Alex huffed, trying to dampen her expression while turning away. Her mind screamed that what this creature was telling her was the painful truth, but externally she needed to keep her emotions in check. Letting slip any sign of a weak point would immediately put her at a disadvantage. More of a disadvantage, that was.

"Maybe I should take real action, then." The alien let the implications sink in before she stood up off her makeshift chair and swung the door wide open. It was obvious that she planned to use Maggie to get to her.

Alex clenched her jaws before she called, "Wait." There was a pause in her captor's movements before the door closed and she strolled back in with taunting sluggishness. Alex breathed a sigh, aware that the large muscle-covered alien was situated right outside the room. "Let her go...and we can talk."

Vasceri waggled her finger from side-to-side, leaning over to line her face up with her victim's. "I don't think you're in a position to negotiate." She moved her hand to Alex's thigh, pressing her thumb into the fresh spike wound wrapped in a bandage. Alex cried out, unable to curb her reaction due to shock but inclined to keep her voice as low as possible. The last thing she wanted was for Maggie to hear, worry about her, and be forced to give up crucial information in exchange for her safety. Given the circumstances, it appeared as if it would be the other way around. Alex was already worried about the dart wound in her leg, but for now she trusted that Maggie knew how to take care of it.

The alien applied more pressure, drawing Alex's mind away from the thoughts she attempted to bury herself in. There was no escape from the pain, leading the agent to grit her teeth and banish her mind far from the little room she was tied up in. However, as much as she liked to try to believe she could be as impervious to pain as Kara was, she simply wasn't. The training she had undertaken at the D.E.O. had not covered pain endurance.

"All I want is a name," the alien muttered with faux sadness, her free hand travelling up Alex's arm and to the bullet graze. Alex sneered at herself for being freshly injured, although if she hadn't have had open wounds, chances were that Vasceri would simply create some.

Alex grunted, shaking her head repeatedly. "Good luck," she puffed out, meeting the alien's eyes.

"Who is Supergirl?"

Alex was quiet until the alien jiggled the finger at her thigh. "I don't know."

" _Who_ is Supergirl?" A finger wormed its way into the bullet wound.

"I don't _know_!" yelped Alex, wishing with all her heart that she could leap out of the chair and face this alien woman-to-woman. Instead, she began to develop an idea. "But...I know who does."

Vasceri released her hold on her victim's arm, but the hand at the thigh wound remained. She tilted her head. "You're willing to give up an innocent civilian?"

Alex snorted, still tensing her leg in response to the pain. "She's not just a civilian... She's my sister. And this is in exchange for Maggie."

Vasceri narrowed her eyes and only pressed harder, causing Alex to grunt. "I don't believe you. Why would you give up your sister for woman who doesn't even have feelings for you?"

"Because that _woman_ in the other room has been there for me more than my sister ever has." Alex's eyes were dark as she hissed the words, injecting each one with as much venom as she could. "She's not my real sister. She was adopted into my family, and since then, _she's_ been the star child."

Vasceri drew her head back, her distraction causing her thigh-cradling hand to forget the pressure it had been exerting. Her smile was sly and tricky, as if she enjoyed seeing resentment in Alex. "My, my, Dalex Anvers has a dark side."

"Sure as hell do," she remarked, face clouded with hatred. In reality, her indignation was directed toward Vasceri, which gave her convenient believability. Given how much anger she had for this utterly despicable creature, she hoped her falsehoods about Kara seemed genuine. She just needed to nullify any doubts.

As if the alien could sense that something was amiss, she leaned in once more, pressing again on the thigh wound. Alex's face tightened as Vasceri's breath stroked her cheek. "I didn't think you were the sort of girl to turn on your own sister."

"You don't know a lot about me," Alex assured, sneering. "Besides. You'll let Kara go once she tells you who Supergirl is."

The alien chuckled. "Will I?"

"You will if you want Supergirl."

Again the maroon-skinned woman projected a look that made Alex wonder if she actually believed a word she was saying. She had hoped that throwing in some sympathy for her sister made their relationship believable; after all, if Vasceri had spied on Alex before tonight, she may have seen her with Kara at the bar. She knew that the alien would not dispute the way Alex felt about Maggie, so that part of her story was solid.

Finally the alien withdrew and took her finger off the spike wound, inviting a breath of relief to filter through Alex's teeth. She opened the door and called her brute in. Once he was inside, she produced a knife and neared her bound victim, cutting the ropes attaching her wrists together around the back of the chair.

Alex maintained caution as she slowly rose to her feet, rubbing her wrists and taking note of both aliens' body language to ensure that it wasn't another trap. However, Vasceri seemed sadistically excited about their coming endeavours, which hopefully meant that the plan was working.

She handed Alex's phone back. It was already calling Kara. "Tell her to meet you at the bar," she purred, cluing Alex in to their location. Her eyes were locked on Alex's. The agent was momentarily reminded why she was initially lured in by this alien, but dispelled the thought once Kara answered.

"Hey, Kara." She paused as her sister responded, watching as Vasceri inclined her head in satisfaction. "Feel like a game of pool?"

ooo

"So this whole thing is about Supergirl?" Maggie questioned, her voice rather flat.

Alex sighed. "I guess so."

She stared at the metal bars again, this time with the strength to her limbs mostly restored. She was still feeling fuzzy from the alcohol, but given that some time had passed and the kidnapping had persuaded her to become alert, she was feeling clearer than before. She suspected that throwing up half the contents of her stomach had helped to sober her up, as well. However, she hadn't been too happy to greet her lunch again after being returned to her cell.

"How's your leg?" Alex wondered, her eyes scanning her seated companion.

"I already told you, it's fine."

Alex could only stare at her, aware that something was bothering her, but was unsure what. The entire situation was reason enough to piss someone off, but she seemed particularly agitated by something. Deciding it was worth trying to figure out why, Alex shrugged and sighed, "Maggie, I'm...sorry you got caught up in this. She's only after me."

The detective was silent for a moment. "You work with Supergirl," she began, her voice pointedly curious.

"She works with the D.E.O., yeah."

"Yeah, but, she always seems to be with _you,_ not the D.E.O..." Maggie stated as if it was an accusation. "That's why this alien targeted you, right? Whenever I see Supergirl, it's when you're there." She paused, clearly hesitant. She looked away before turning back, her demeanour becoming slightly aloof. "Look, I know it's not my business, but..."

Alex narrowed her eyes. "But...what?"

"Are you and Supergirl...ya know..." She raised her eyebrows.

It sunk in. " _What_?!" Alex blurted, simultaneously amused, puzzled and somewhat repulsed. "No. _God_ no. Supergirl is like my sister, or, or my cousin." She laughed at both the awkwardness and the outrageousness of such a claim. She was obviously fully aware of the fact that she and Kara were far from related, but it felt like they shared blood regardless of the facts. "Absolutely not." She gave an involuntary shudder at the implications.

Maggie was unsure how to react to such a strong response. Her expression softened as she spread her fingers to signal innocence. "Okay... Just wondering."

Alex relaxed once realising that Maggie had as well. She couldn't believe that Maggie had drawn the conclusion that she and Supergirl were involved. She was partially glad that it had been brought up, in case it was something that had been chewing on Maggie's mind.

Alex couldn't help but stare at her cool and composed companion. Maggie's hands were chained, her leg was bleeding, and she was locked in a cell, yet she was still the calm, resilient woman Alex had met. Although they had only crossed paths a few weeks ago, she was finding it harder each day to imagine life without her in it.

Quietly she realised that was what Maggie had said to her only a day ago after showing up at her house unannounced. Some part of her wondered why she had gone to all that effort given that she claimed she didn't feel the same way about Alex as Alex did about her. At first she had written it off as a friend not wishing for another friend to disappear, but after the course of this night, she had to wonder if it was something more.

As if Maggie had heard Alex's internal dialogue, the detective moved her eyes onto her. Their gazes locked as both women embraced the silence. Alex felt a stone in her stomach drop as Maggie continued to stare, her face washed with warmth despite the circumstances. It was comforting, but simultaneously stirred Alex's insides, as if the detective was tapping into some nonverbal language to convey silent thoughts.

It was Maggie who increased her smile into a shy grin and dropped her gaze to the floor. A pang of disappointment prodded at Alex's mind as she came to the conclusion that whatever she had been thinking about Maggie was probably misinformed. She cursed herself for appearing to have a knack for assumptions and subsequent disappointments, rather sick of misreading this mysterious woman.

"This way," a voiced echoed as the door to the large warehouse-like room swung open.

Alex perked up, twirling around to see her sister enter. She already looked wary, and once the view of the room invaded her vision, it was clear that she knew something was amiss. After but a moment of glancing around, Kara's eyes fell to Alex and enlarged.

"Alex?"

"Freeze, girlie," the brute behind her grumbled.

There was a gun to her back, which at first seemed to make Kara only smile, but then put a halt to her motions when she glanced back to Alex. Her sister was shaking her head, eyes wide. Kara then took notice of Maggie in the cell on the opposite side of the room and instantly knew that things were going to be complicated.

"Kara?" Maggie questioned, prompting Kara to furrow her brow as if she was legitimately afraid.

"Oh no! Don't shoot," Kara protested, although her delivery was somewhat lacking. Alex cringed and then adopted an expression of seriousness as Vasceri stepped into the room behind her hired gun.

"He won't. Probably," the alien sneered, giving Kara a shove. She stumbled forward, annoyed by the unwarranted use of force before the alien approached a second time and captured both hands. She slipped a pair of handcuffs on Kara's wrists as the Kryptonian locked eyes with her sister.

Once the cuffs were secured, she was led to the cages, where Vasceri stopped her before Alex's enclosure. The agent glared at her and neared the bars. "You've got my sister. Now let Maggie go."

Vasceri's whole body seemed to sigh with little emotion. "Oh, I still don't know who Supergirl is. And until _star child_ reveals what I want to know..." She fiddled with another dart, and in the short time it took Alex to recognise it as the same type as the one she used before, she couldn't help but wonder why she carried them around. Her eyes widened as the alien thrust the dart at Maggie once again, and this time it lodged itself into her arm.

"What the hell are you doing?" Alex shouted, twice as outraged as she had been the first time. Her bottled derision began to bubble over as she slammed a palm into one of the metal bars, pointing an accusatory finger between two of them. "You better god-damn release her once you get what you want."

"You know, _Alex_ ," began Vasceri, leisurely pacing toward her as she examined yet another dart. "Now that you've so willingly delivered your sister...I don't need you anymore." It went without saying that Maggie was even less valuable to her.

Alex sneered. "If you didn't need me anymore, you wouldn't be wasting your breath on me."

"Correct," the alien jeered, her eyes hovering over her catch. "You know, you're a smart woman. It's a shame you're so heavily invested in...her." She slopped a lazy gaze on Maggie.

"Go to hell," the detective rasped between enraged breaths as she applied pressure to the wound on her arm.

"Been there, done that," the red-skinned woman sighed, rather bored with the conversation. "I like you, Alex. That's the only reason you're still here. I bet I could get a thing or two for you and your leash-wielder over there in the galactic slave trade. Once Supergirl is mine, there's no telling what I'll be capable of."

Alex rocked her head from side to side, her internal rage begging to be unshackled. "What exactly do you want with Supergirl?"

Vasceri gave her a transparent look. It was clear that Alex was barely worth her time anymore. Despite that, she spoke anyway. "Once the Kryptonian is under my command, nothing on this Earth will be beyond my reach. Maybe one day, that reach will extend to my home planet."

Something about the way she handled the final two words clued Alex in to how she felt about her planet of origin. She got no further as the alien ordered her grunt to lock Kara in the cell beside Alex's. She almost expected them to have suspected that the person Alex claimed knew Supergirl's identity was Supergirl herself, but neither alien seemed to show any sign of suspicion. Maybe they got lucky, or maybe it was another side to their elaborate plan.

Vasceri left the warehouse while her muscle-laden lackey remained behind to guard the prisoners. Maggie nursed her second wound as Alex tried to comb the guilt from her mind. This whole night was meant to be fun, exciting, and a chance for the two women to put their past behind them and start fresh. Instead, they had both wound up in cells – something that the two were used to being on the opposite side of – with no plan for how to escape...until now.

"What was she talking about before?" Kara wondered, keeping her voice low as she whispered to Alex through their adjoined cells. "Star child?"

"I...may have told her that I hated you," Alex admitted, giving a coy shrug. "To sell it."

"Alex, what the heck is going on?"

Alex breathed a sigh, trying to weed out the most embarrassing parts in advance. "Maggie and I were playing pool...and Vasceri, that alien, kept watching me and, ya know... It was obvious she was _interested_." Kara nodded slowly, as if the topic was slightly awkward. Alex felt the need to justify. "After the whole thing with Maggie, I felt like maybe I should...try something new. After the game, she approached me and wanted to dance, so I said yes and she gave me a drink. An alien drink."

Kara grimaced. "Did it poison you?"

"Something to that effect, yeah," Alex groaned, finding the entire situation embarrassing and inconvenient. "I just wanted to have some fun, but instead, we end up being kidnapped. Because _I_ was feeling reckless." She threw her hand up, feeling slightly defeated. On top of everything, her stomach still hadn't settled, and the cold was beginning to bother her again. Both her arm and leg wounds continued to pulse, never allowing her a moment of peace.

Kara glanced to the third woman in the room, who was acutely aware of a conversation going on between the two which excluded her. Just for extra security, Kara's voice lowered again. "You know I can't use my powers in front of Maggie, right?"

"I know. You'll have to be subtle," Alex hissed, gritting her teeth. As much as she wanted Kara to just break out of the cell, letting Maggie in on her secret identity was crossing into territory that neither sister was willing to. Perhaps it was inevitable that she would find out, but the longer she was kept in the dark, the better.

"If you guys are hatching a plan over there, feel free to let me in on it," Maggie grumbled, evidently irritated.

"Are you alright?" Kara inquired, genuinely concerned.

"Sunshine and rainbows."

Kara recoiled with a bemused frown. " _Okay_. No need to be sarcastic."

"You need to break us out of here," Alex whispered, glancing left and right. "Before she comes—"

The door to the warehouse room creaked open again, cutting Alex off. The sudden noise made both sisters jolt, each one glaring at the maroon-tinted alien as she waltzed in with an oversized weapon against her shoulder and a maniacal glint in her eye.

"Boss," began the large man she had hired, "they're trying to plan something."

Vasceri was unfazed and let out a chortle. "Oh, they needn't bother." She strolled around the room and stopped between the cells. "There's no way any plan of theirs could yield favourable results." She raised her eyebrows, directing her gaze to the handcuffs chewing at Kara's wrists. "I had a hunch that you would try to call Supergirl herself. I can't be sure you're her, but just in case... I had kryptonite installed in those cuffs."

Kara tried to subdue a gasp as she met Alex's wide eyes. Her sister was just as concerned, and as much as she wanted to discredit their captor's theory, something else was on her mind. "Where the hell did you get _kryptonite_?"

"Remember that D.E.O. mole you stopped? The one discreetly distributing kryptonite under your ignorant little noses?" teased the seductress, watching as it dawned on Alex that this alien knew more about her than she should. The red-skinned woman only produced a greasy smile as she read the expression. "That's the funny thing about moles. You never know how deep their holes go."

Alex watched as Kara attempted to break the cuffs apart, but her strains led her nowhere. Her strength no longer functioned, but she hoped that her other abilities still remained.

Alex was shaking her head, disgusted at her willingness for exploitation. "You're a monster."

"We are what we are," the alien mumbled, unaffected and uncaring. She signalled her hired man for something.

"Vasceri, is it?" Kara interjected, capturing the alien's attention. "Let them go and I'll bring you Supergirl."

Vasceri let out a small snigger, utterly baffled at the comment. "What is wrong with you people? I have all the cards here. You, your sister, and your sister's girlfriend. I could open a tourist destination titled _Leverage City_."

"Been sitting on that one for a while?" grunted Maggie, whose attitude remained intact and unwavering.

"I'm beginning to wonder if you enjoy being stabbed with my darts." She pulled out another, ready to throw it again.

"No!" Alex exclaimed, scrambling to her feet again. She stood with her face at the bars, glaring through the cell at her aggressor as her head spun. "I'm telling you, if you want Supergirl _,_ you're going to have to let her go first."

"You just don't get it," Vasceri sighed, beginning to get frustrated. With one swift movement, she bucked her shoulder, making the large weapon she had hauled in fall into her open palm, and fired it directly at Maggie.

"NO!" Alex screeched, helpless from within her cell.

She watched in horror as Maggie was struck with a ball of electrified blue light. It shook her entire body, a cry of pain rippling from her mouth before she collapsed on the ground. There was no movement as she lay atop her tangled restraining chains.

Alex's face became a contortion of fear, rage and uncertainty. "You piece of shit!" she yelled, trying to compose herself. The course of the night had drained her physically and mentally, and an attack like this only amplified the colossal volume of emotion her mind was hosting. "What did you _do_ to her?"

The alien marvelled at her weapon, barely taking note of anything else. "This is what happens when you constantly defy me. I may not be able to enchant you, but, heh, this is just as effective."

Alex lowered her voice. "The second I get out of this cell—"

"You'll do what?" the alien remarked, meeting her eyes. "You'll be begging me to put you back in, that's what."

The distinct sound of heat vision caught Alex's attention as she realised that Kara must have been using the conversation as an opportunity to salvage what powers she still had under the stress of what must have been tiny fragments of kryptonite not quite strong enough to dull her superhuman abilities instantly, and try to break herself out of the cuffs. Realising she needed to keep the conversation going, Alex tried to juggle different approaches in her mind. She had long passed the point of being able to use charm, for her feelings were unmistakable. Instead, she spat at the maroon-skinned woman's feet in an attempt to taunt her.

"I hope that's a universal gesture."

Vasceri's lips parted to reveal her teeth as a growl escaped her maw. She lifted the gun at Alex, causing the agent to take a step back, before she ceased her movements and lowered the weapon. With a few quick steps, she was at Kara's cell.

The Kryptonian cut off her heat vision just in time, trying to hide her cuffs from the alien's view as she stood at the cell door. Vasceri blew out a puff of air as she ran her eyes over her prisoner.

"It's Supergirl," she affirmed, followed by the stomping of her hired brute.

"Now, Kara!" Alex shouted, prompting her sister to stand up and release a plume of cold breath through the cell bars and directly into Vasceri's face.

However, the alien had been quick to predict the attack and had fired her weapon simultaneously. As the cold iced her over, the electrified charge enveloped Kara and, in her weakened state, seized her entire body. She emitted a call of pain as her body descended and her muscles quaked. Alex shot to the bars that sat between their cells, following Kara's slumping form as she shouted words of concern and encouragement. They didn't seem to be working as Kara succumbed to the paralysis and became immobile.

Alex rose to her feet with her leg pulsating, realising that she was the only one of the three who could act. Vasceri was trying desperately to warm herself up as her hired muscle attempted to help. While they were distracted, she tried frantically to find a way out of the cell. Not a single weakness or potential escape route presented itself to her, and with Kara unavailable, she had no way of breaking out herself. All at once, the realisation that she couldn't get herself out came crashing down. She erected a wall of denial, but she knew it wouldn't hold for long.

"You wretched little _insect_ ," spat Vasceri after the ice on her face began to melt into aimless drips. Her crazed eyes locked with Alex, droplets of saliva spilling from her lips as she harnessed her anger. "Enjoy your last moments of freedom." She pushed the bulky man aside to gain some space, hauling the cobalt-streaked weapon up once more and pointed it directly at Alex.

Alex gritted her teeth, preparing to fight whatever agony was about to seize her.

A deafening explosion in one of the walls sent debris sprawling in every direction, causing all three able-bodied beings to instinctively shield themselves. Dust choked the air as Vasceri whirled around while ducking close to the floor, abolishing all thought of Alex being her priority.

Pieces of cement rolled from the gaping hole in the wall, paving the way for a masked figure to leap into the fray and slice his large metal shield through the air. It struck the giant man standing beside Vasceri, slamming him into Alex's cell and causing her to jump backwards in shock. As the large, dazed creature sunk down to the floor, Vasceri fumbled for her weapon again, attempting to point it at the Guardian before he guided the shield upwards, crashing into her jaw and sending her tumbling backwards.

While the brute was momentarily down, Alex reached between two metal bars and snagged the keys at his belt. She stood up, meeting eyes with James. "What the hell took you so long?" she huffed, mostly serious but filled with too much relief not to be smiling.

"Your message wasn't exactly clear," James answered back from behind his voice-altering mask, turning his attention to the large alien at his feet. The muscular creature kicked, toppling the Guardian instantly before trying to beat him to his feet.

Alex took note of Vasceri, who was moaning in a daze but still down. She used the opportunity to reach around the bars and work the larger of the two keys into her cell's lock while thinking back to when Vasceri had gotten her to call Kara.

" _You up for a game of pool?"_

" _Uhh, sure! Is your date with Maggie going okay?"_

 _Alex sighed. "It's not a date." She met eyes with Vasceri, who was composed and patient, but ever aware. "I just thought you could join us." Alex moved her thumb onto the screen while still holding the phone to her head. "H-hello, Kara? Are you there? Kara?" Alex pulled the phone away from her face, her brow furrowed while pretending the phone signal had cut out. She had but a moment to hit the hang up button, and then press James' contact before bringing the phone back to her face. Vasceri suspected nothing, having not been able to see the screen from her angle._

" _Kara—oh, I can hear you now," she continued while the phone still rang. When James picked up, she continued, "Terrible signal down here. Anyway, yeah, come to the bar and have a game or two."_

" _Alex?" he questioned, clearly confused._

 _Alex laughed. "Yeah, I know. Just get here as soon as you can, Kara. I've had a bit to drink; I could use a_ _ **guardian angel**_ _right about now."_

She grinned at the flashback; she wondered if Vasceri had suspected anything, but given that she had not objected following the conversation, she figured the alien was oblivious to her contact with Guardian.

The door clicked and opened with ease. Alex rushed out, careful to avoid the giant fighting with James while she watched as Vasceri got to her feet. "Oh, no, you don't," she hissed, running headlong into the alien and bowling her over. She hovered over her opponent, but quickly felt herself lifting off the ground as the alien drove her feet into Alex's gut and rolled backwards, throwing Alex over her and into the concrete. She grunted at the unplanned meeting with the floor and stood, wedging the keys in her cleavage as her assailant also ascended to her feet.

"You're not going anywhere," the red-skinned woman growled.

Alex made a clicking sound with her tongue, half shaking her head. "Oh, we are. Then we're gonna throw you in a padded cell, where you'll rot for the rest of your life."

Vasceri unleashed a shriek of rage as she extracted a few darts and threw two, both missing, before charging at Alex while wielding the darts like a knife. The two engaged in a short brawl, each throwing a flurry of punches, kicks and attempted slashes. Eventually Alex knocked the woman in the jaw again, leaving her lying on the floor. Alex sped past and approached Maggie's cell, and then Kara's cell, jamming the same key into the hole and opening the door. Her mind flashed to the unconscious detective, but she made a note to herself that Kara needed to come first if she was to help them escape.

She rushed in, kneeling by her sister's side and resting a hand on her arm. "Kara! Can you hear me?"

Her sister groaned and opened her eyes, which invited a smile onto Alex's face. "This...is a weird interpretation of pool."

Alex gave a breathy laugh, helping Kara stand. "We need to get those cuffs off you." She held up the pair of keys she had swiped, noting that the smaller one looked suitable for a pair of cuffs.

"Supergirl, are you okay?" Guardian interrupted, entering the cell. Alex knew that James didn't value keeping his identity secret from Kara, but even so, she was glad that her sister was wearing her glasses; she couldn't use her x-ray vision to see beyond the mask.

"Y-yeah. Thanks for coming," she responded, watching as Alex jiggled the smaller key in the cuff lock hole until both clicked open. They clattered to the floor and Alex led her sister out of the cell.

"Did you bring your suit?"

Kara shook her head. "Didn't think I'd need it."

"I did," Guardian answered, pointing at the hole in the wall. "Through there. On my motorcycle."

Kara, while clearly confused, had no time to question it and made for the opening as James double-checked the muscular creature he had knocked out. Alex whirled around and approached the only cage left, where Maggie was still lying unconscious. Again she felt guilty for all that she had put her through, even knowing how capable she was of taking care of herself.

"Maggie," she whispered, watching as the woman stirred.

She raised her head, eyes squinting as she surveyed the scene. She spotted Guardian and procured a thoughtful expression. Alex suspected that she was glad she had listened to her requests to leave him alone. "Called in the cavalry so soon?"

Alex smiled, giving a small chuckle as she jammed the key in the opening. "I wouldn't exactly call this soon."

Maggie nodded, glancing elsewhere as Alex still tried to work the lock. She snarled as the key repeatedly slipped in, but refused to turn far enough to unlock. Her frustration only continued to build while she heard Guardian engaging the seemingly unbeatable lackey, and began to feel a surge of adrenaline coursing through her veins.

"She's calling for backup," Maggie murmured, keeping her eyes on the alien a number of metres away.

"I'll get you out," Alex promised, trying to twist the key again. She grunted and growled but kept working.

Suddenly the door at the main entrance to the building swung open on the opposite side to where Alex and Maggie were, Alex throwing her head over her shoulder to view multiple armed men pouring in. Most were aliens wearing visors and bodily protection; she could count seven as she hurried the key.

"Alex, get out of here."

Alex flicked her head up. "What? No."

Maggie was standing mere centimetres from her and captured her eyes. "The key's not working."

"No, no, I'll get you out of here. Just hold—"

"Alex!" she snapped, watching as the men rounded the various furniture to reach their location. Guardian was still brawling with the burly alien, for some reason unable to subdue him. Maggie grasped the metal bars. "They're coming. You need to run."

"I'm not _leaving you_ ," Alex insisted, trapping Maggie's gaze. For a moment it seemed as if Maggie wanted to say something, but stopped herself as one of the nearing aliens fell into range.

"Get on the floor!" he shouted, his gruff voice barely audible to Alex as she kept her eyes on Maggie. Slowly she placed her arms up behind her head. The armoured creature neared her and pointed his weapon into her spine, convincing her to sink to her knees.

"Get her back in the cell," Vasceri ordered, nearing the pair once she seemed confident that her brigade of minions could overcome the trained agent and masked vigilante. She directed her glare at Guardian and also ordered for him to be captured, but he was quick to separate himself and gauge his odds, remaining still. "On second thought...kill her."

"NO!" Maggie screeched.

Just as the large man shifted the target to Alex's head, a sharp beam of light illuminated the area. The man erupted in a scream as his armour began to melt in two places, burning his flesh and completely aborting his operation. Alex tossed her head to the hole in the wall not far from Maggie's cell, where the beams originated. Sure enough, Supergirl stood on the rubble with eyes aglow.

"I hope you're all ready to get beaten," she declared, puffing out her chest and tensing her arms.

"Get her!" demanded Vasceri with a dramatic point, her face overcome with doubt.

Alex stole the opportunity to leap up, delivering a swift kick to the man who had held his weapon to her, leaping at Vasceri before one of the other men could target her. The red-skinned alien cried out in surprise as Alex tackled her torso.

"Hey! On the ground!" yelled one of the men, who approached the two brawling women. Immediately he was struck by heat vision before whirling around and setting his sights on Supergirl, just as every other armoured alien in the room was doing.

Weapons firing beams of energy crossed over one another, some as cold as ice and some burning hot. Supergirl could not avoid the tirade of various energies and suffered a few strokes as she began to tear through the mass of guards, using her incredible strength to hurtle some, while her snowy breath froze others in place.

Guardian's target had finally broken away from him, lured away by the greater threat. He took the chance to scout the group and discover which were the most vulnerable, then attacked with gadgets, his shield, or brute force.

While Supergirl and Guardian cleaned up the armoured guards, Alex and Vasceri stared each other down, within close range of one another but both hesitant to make a move. Alex panted, exhausted from the events of the day. She shook her head, face washed with a thin veil of amusement. "Give up now and I won't be forced to kill you."

The alien snarled, grasping a dart in one hand. "It was the phone call, wasn't it? That's when you contacted Guardian?" Alex narrowed her eyes for a brief moment. "You know who Guardian is. Does your _sister_ know that?"

Alex felt a burning sensation in her gut. This criminal was not only dangerous, but was also privy to Supergirl's identity. She glanced to Maggie to ensure she didn't hear, but over the noise of the Kryptonian ploughing through the masses, not much was audible.

"Guardian!" shouted Supergirl, catching Alex's attention.

In the moment she cast her glance to the fallen masked vigilante, Vasceri surged forward, shoving a dart into the side of her neck. Alex gasped as it entered, instinctively grasping at the alien's hand under her jaw as her eyes swelled. She began to feel drowsy, but fought with all her might to remain conscious. She felt herself slump to the floor, watching as Vasceri powered towards her dropped weapon. She tried to raise her arm or call out, but her body simply refused to cooperate.

The last hired alien dropped just when Kara noticed Alex on the floor. She gasped, instantly taking off and flying to her fallen form. She dropped to her knees, her cape draping around her, and held her sister in her arms.

"Alex," she prompted, placing a hand on her cheek. "Alex, can you hear me?"

"V-Vasceri," she managed, barely awake.

Supergirl span around to meet with Vasceri, who had already downed Guardian with her weapon and was now pointing it directly at Supergirl. Even with every one of her soldiers down and out, the alien refused to give up. "Surrender yourself and I won't end your friends."

Supergirl rose to her feet, ensuring every move she made was cautious. "Give up, Vasceri. That can't hurt me now."

Vasceri narrowed her eyes, considering her adversary's words. "Hm. You're right." She swung the weapon to her right, pointing it directly at Maggie through the cell. "But it can hurt her."

"No, Maggie," Alex gasped.

"In fact, if I just..." she pinched a dial on the side of the weapon and twisted it to its full rotation. "There we are. Now just _one_ pulse will electrify her entire body and kill her instantly. Well, not instantly—she'll feel the intense pain first." She leaned in with a smile, as if this was a casual conversation. "It's not the first time I've seen it."

"Put the gun down," Supergirl insisted, her voice steady.

"Not until you put these back on," the alien demanded, tossing the pair of handcuffs at her. Kara caught them, studying them for but a moment.

"Don't do it," Maggie warned.

Vasceri aimed the weapon closer. "One spark..."

Kara bit the inside of her cheek. "Okay," she resigned, taking a slow breath. She clipped one ring on before requesting that the weapon be lowered. Vasceri abided, watching as Kara put her hands behind her back and clipped on the second. Kara met eyes with Alex, who twisted her balled fist just a tad in a motion reminiscent of a key unlocking a lock.

"There. That wasn't so hard," the alien sneered as she approached.

"Vasceri," Alex wheezed, "don't do this. You're...making a mistake."

The alien sighed as she strode closer and stopped, raising the weapon to Alex's face. "The only mistake I made was not putting a stronger sedative in that dart."

"No, don't!" Kara screeched, stepping in front of the weapon.

"Step away from her," Vasceri grunted, realising that the superhero's hands were behind her. She raised the weapon and held it to Supergirl's chest. " _Now_."

Kara could feel Alex grabbing the cuffs, about to insert the key she had swiped before. In a split second, she thought their plan was foiled and was about to abort. However, Vasceri's attention was stolen by her own cry of shock followed by the realisation that there was a dart in her calf.

Alex clicked the lock as fast as she could and the cuffs slipped off just as Vasceri discovered that Maggie had been the source of the attack. The detective was clearly afraid but unmistakably satisfied, which enraged the maroon-skinned alien enough to completely draw her attention.

"You little _bitch_ ," she squawked, flinging up her weapon.

Just as she pulled the trigger, Kara rocketed into her, bringing the both of them flying across the room, over the mass of unconscious men, and directly into a stone wall.

Alex stumbled toward Maggie's cell, grasping the bars to keep herself steady. "Are you alright?!" she blurted, almost pleading.

Maggie neared the bars while bobbing her head, unable to reach them due to the short length of her chains. "Yeah, it missed me by an inch," she breathed, more concerned for Alex than for herself. "Are _you_ okay?"

Alex bound her eyes, her head hanging as the sedative coursed through her. Her head was still pounding while her stomach swirled with reminders of sickness. The pain in her leg was throbbing, her arms were chilled, and she wasn't sure how much longer she could resist the sedative.

She clawed at the metal bars as her eyelids kept threatening to sink. "Yeah...I just...need to..."

"Alex!" Maggie shouted as her friend descended, having finally given in to the serum.


	4. Chapter 4: Inquiries and Impulses

_AN: This is, unfortunately, the final chapter for Mixed. It's the shortest of all chapters, but I've learned not to drag things out that don't need to be dragged out. xD I'm so happy I was able to write this, and it's turned out longer than I initially planned._

 _I'm really grateful for every reader this story sees, so I thank you again for your support! I hope you all had an amazing holiday, and have a wonderful 2017!_

 **Chapter Four: Inquiries and Impulses**

Alex roused with great effort, her eyelids fighting against her wishes for them to separate. An unintelligible moan escaped her lips as she tried to speak, feeling much too drowsy to form a real word.

"It's okay," she heard a reassuring voice lull. "You're at the D.E.O. now."

A blurry cobalt figure appeared in view before colours separated and Kara's form became identifiable. She was adorned in her Supergirl attire, as she always was at the D.E.O. headquarters (with the exception of when she had been blind drunk). The sight of her sister relieved Alex. Memories came flooding back to her mind as she recalled her Kryptonian sibling flying headlong into a wall. In hindsight, she realised that there was no way that could have wounded her to any alarming degree of severity, but seeing someone she loved collide directly with solid rock was concerning nonetheless.

"How are you feeling?" she asked softly, placing an overturned wrist on Alex's forehead.

Alex closed her eyes for a moment, feeling the reassuring warmth from Kara's skin. It was soothing to know that she always had a person who cared. Kara was that person for Alex, and always had been. Although these days it seemed as if she had two people who adequately filled that role.

Alex frowned, willing mouth to murmur, "Maggie."

"Maggie's fine," Kara assured. "How are you feeling?"

Alex took in a slow, steady breath, feeling herself waking up already. "Mm... Terrible," she managed, breathing out a light chuckle.

Kara mimicked her, seemingly glad to see that her sister was recovering. Her expression fell a little as she switched subjects. "Vasceri has been detained. She was out like a light when I flew us into that wall. She can't hurt anyone anymore."

Alex smiled again. "I'm so glad...you're invincible."

"Doesn't stop you from worrying."

"I will _never_ stop worrying," Alex smirked as she attempted to sit up.

"Careful...okay?" her sister requested, projecting an expression of concern. As Alex traced the bandages on various parts of her body, Kara continued, "Your leg wound has been redressed, along with the bullet graze and the wound on your neck from the dart. The sedative is nearly out of your body, as is whatever alien alcohol you ingested earlier."

"Remind me never to accept drinks from strangers again."

"The wound on your leg looks like it was made by a...knife or something." Kara let a breath ease out as she pictured her sister in trouble. "Were you attacked?"

The incapacitated woman rolled her eyes a little at the memory. "Some douche alien who could shoot spikes out of his body attacked me."

Kara held her tongue before suggesting, "You know, that could have been Vasceri's first attempt to capture you tonight."

Her sister's face straightened in thought before her eyes went wide. "Oh my god. Why hadn't I thought of that?"

"Today is just not your day," Kara chuckled. "I thought that bullet wound was gonna be the downer of today. Boy, was I wrong."

"Tell me about it." Alex glanced around the room, taking a moment to move multiple parts of her body. Although she was in a bit of pain, she was satisfied with the results. "Well, everything still works. And I can talk again. This is the second time I've passed out today. God, my head is _pounding_."

"Yeah, give that a few hours. Here." Kara passed her a glass of water which she had clearly brought in for this moment. Alex downed half of it in one go, passing it back.

"I needed that." Alex paused for a moment to gauge what her body was telling her. She felt pain emanating from her thigh, upper arm, head and neck. The contents of her stomach danced a dance of sickness while her eyes swayed with dizziness. She was once again warm, and briefly made a note to go back to the bar for her jacket when she was well enough to leave.

On top of all those thoughts and bodily feelings, there was something else of note swimming around within her mind. She wanted to see Maggie. Since she had awoken, she had secretly been at the forefront of her mind. Since she first _met_ her, she had been at the forefront of Alex's mind.

She met eyes with Kara. "I need to see her."

Her sister radiated a warm smile. "I know. She's just in the next room. I'll go get her for you."

"No—you don't need to—" Alex began before Kara cast a smile.

"Alex, come on. You need to stay put." She stood, keeping an eye on her seated sister before disappearing from the room.

Alex released a string of air, feeling a nervous sensation brewing in her stomach. With a thought of annoyance, she couldn't believe that she still felt such juvenile feelings at her age. Even so, she knew with every fibre of her being that Maggie was different to anyone she'd had feelings for.

Her mind snapped back to reality as she looked up to the dark-haired detective standing in the entrance, saying a few departing words to Kara—or Supergirl, as far as she knew. Maggie looked content, healthy, and mostly recovered. When Kara left, her eyes fell upon Alex and her face lit up in an instant.

"Danvers," she grinned, eyes brimming with gladness as she strode into the room.

"Hey, you," Alex responded with equal warmth as Maggie made her way to the bed. She tentatively sat on the edge. Alex was about to speak when Maggie cut her off with a look.

"Don't you even _think_ about asking how I am," she ordered, narrowing her eyes a little in mild entertainment.

"Maggie, you got shot with electricity," Alex reasoned, as if fishing for validity.

Maggie tilted her head. "You got knocked out. Twice."

"I didn't get _knocked out_ ," Alex corrected, bobbing her head as she rectified the wording. "I...just..."

Maggie dipped her head a little, a sneaky smile spreading its wings. "Got blackmailed, dragged your sister into it, got your butt kicked—"

"I— _My_ butt got kicked? No. Oh, no—" she protested.

"You got drugged, _twice_." She sounded like she was about to continue, implying that it wasn't the end of the list.

Alex gave a futile shrug, a smile getting the better of her as Maggie chuckled in response. "You got me. I _may_ have gotten my butt kicked. _But_ , so did that stupid alien, so we're even."

"Well, ya got kidnapped, too."

Alex moved her head from side-to-side in a contemplative motion. "Yeah, not the first time it's happened."

Maggie's mouth was slightly ajar as she placed a hand on the bed. "Are—are you serious? You've been kidnapped before?"

"You know, Maggie, some of us are in a dangerous line of work." She gave a playful shrug.

"My life sure did get a whole lot more dangerous when you came into it," Maggie agreed, intending to sound light-hearted. However, the second the phrase departed her lips, its meaning morphed unintentionally into what seemed more like an accusation.

Both women let their smiles settle as they held one another's gaze. Alex felt a twinge in her stomach and bit the side of her lip, feeling somewhat vulnerable cooped up in a bed. Maggie looked dazzling and as bright as a midnight star despite what she had just been through. The way she extended an expression of soft concern tickled Alex's heart, threatening to set her cheeks aflame. Her affection for Maggie this evening had only swelled, a caterpillar trapped within a cocoon, wishing to break free.

As she stared, she felt the heat of her exhalation passing through her lips, followed by the chill of a new breath. She had never felt more tempted in her life to leap across a bed and catch someone's lips with her own. However, she was repelled by thoughts of her attempt days earlier. She would never forget the sting of regret and the bite of misery that had followed.

Maggie shuffled up, coming a little closer. "Listen, Alex..." she began, probably noticing the change in Alex's expression. She waited a moment, planning what she wanted to say. "I had a...nice time tonight. You know, even with the whole kidnap thing."

"Yeah," began Alex, her enthusiasm dulled, "me too." Her mind flashed back to when the detective had straddled her, their fronts pressed together as she sucked her neck. She blinked it out.

"We should...do it again. If you want," she added, remembering the pain she had caused Alex after the initial misunderstanding, then the incident tonight while trying to ward off those pesky men. Before Alex could reply, she gave a sigh. "I owe you an apology. Again. You know, when I—"

"Maggie," interrupted the agent, catching her eyes. Her smile was flat and forgiving. "Seriously. It's fine."

Maggie breathed out through her nose, pulling a smile from one cheek to the other. She gave a few nods of understanding and turned away a little, rubbing both hands on her legs in a gesture meant to signal that she was ready to depart. "Well, I better...let you rest. I should probably get back to the NCPD. If we have anything on that... _Vasceri's_ species, I'll let you know."

Alex watched with a face that was a little stunned, a little deprived, and a tad nervous. Maggie was about to leave, but that's not what she wanted. Whatever she said now would likely get brushed off, but she had to say something. Nothing came out.

The detective stood, flashing a polite smile. "See you 'round."

Maggie took a step and Alex leaped forward, snagging Maggie's wrist. Her heart thundered against her bones as she stared up, a lost, lovelorn woman pleading with a look designed to convey a thousand words. Maggie whirled around, shocked that Alex had jumped forward so far as to reach her arm. Alex could tell she was puzzled by the action, and analysed her arm, Alex's grasping hand and then her expression in an effort to uncover an answer.

Alex stared and took a breath in preparation to speak. She wanted to tell Maggie how much she wanted to play pool with her again, and drink with her again, and listen to her no-shit attitude as she recited short, entertaining anecdotes. She wanted to tell her that she wanted her to stay, and to bring in two bottles of beer so they could chat and have a laugh while she lay in the hospital bed. She wanted Maggie by her side, enduring the aftermath together and giggling about a crazed alien who had nothing better to do than dream of dominating the galaxy with a single Kryptonian. She wanted to tell Maggie who Kara was, and who Guardian was, and that she still had hope that one day she would feel the same way about her.

Instead, she released her hold, resigning to the inevitable disappointment of the person she liked once again leaving her behind. She made peace with a small smile, as if to let Maggie know that she was okay with her decision.

"Don't get kidnapped on your way there," Alex sniggered.

Traces of a smile tested Maggie's face while her gaze lingered for a little too long. She ran her eyes up and down the agent's face as she stood motionless, her chest slowly rising and falling while her heart played a monotonous tune against her ribs. She leaned over the bed and wrapped her hand around Alex's jaw, capturing her lips in a firm embrace.

As Maggie pressed into the kiss, Alex felt her insides burst into flames and enrapture her entire body. Her mind hit the clouds as her chest welled with excitement, shock and elation. Her lips were tender and brought her peace amongst turmoil as Maggie parted for but a moment before kissing deeper, running her tongue across the cusp of Alex's lip.

The detective pulled on her lips with one last tug before she broke the kiss, recoiling in shock as if her body had been momentarily possessed by impulsive passion. Alex could tell that she was unsure whether she should be smiling or apologising, so she settled for both, eyelids fluttering as she unhooked herself from the bed and rose into a stand.

"Wow," Alex uttered, her lungs devoid of air.

"Oh god. I'm sorry," Maggie breathed quickly, an aggressive blush pushing its way through her veins and onto her skin.

Alex's face followed, dousing itself in red dye as she struggled to command a steady intake of oxygen. "D-don't be."

Maggie bit the inside of her lip, as if she was highly tempted to resume the kiss, but tore herself away as her internal debate ended and she made the final call. Then she was trotting out of the room, unsure whether she was backing out or walking forward while she uttered various offerings of goodbyes and apologies, all while casting her magnificently sweet but bewildered smile. The detective disappeared out of the door, leaving a rather stunned Alex alone in the medical bed.

Alex, rather than feeling hurt or upset by this repeated confusing conduct, chose to take Maggie's actions – her amazing, magical-feeling actions that awoke some internal slumbering beast – as a positive sign. That was not a sympathy kiss. That was a kiss that spelled out three words: _I want you_.

Alex thudded against the bed head as she mulled over what had just happened. Her heart was beating faster than she could monitor, her thoughts following suit. The lingering feeling of lightness, as if she was lying in a field of marshmallows, mesmerised her while her mind went wild with an array of sensations, concepts and possibilities.

Maggie had _kissed_ her. She didn't initiate it. Maggie did.

As Kara came into view, appearing marginally perplexed towards Maggie's hurried exit, Alex couldn't hide her grin which far outshone the brightest star

"What was that about?" Kara inquired, a hint of a smile hidden between layers of befuddlement.

Alex finally filled her lungs with air. "I think she likes me."


End file.
